Yes, US immigration is broken. But choose courage over fear, Kansas City | Opinion

On a bitterly cold Sunday morning in January, something powerful happened in Kansas City. More than 350 people filled every pew and chair in the sanctuary of Holmeswood Church. People of many faiths — and no faith at all — gathered shoulder to shoulder, not for comfort, but for courage. They came to learn their rights when witnessing interactions with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, and how to protect vulnerable neighbors in public spaces peacefully. The training was led by Boots on the Ground Midwest.

That gathering did not happen in isolation. It came in the midst of a growing awareness that the federal government may purchase a building in south Jackson County to house a detention facility capable of holding nearly 10,000 people.

Let’s be open about what that means. A massive detention site does not create safety. Instead, it manufactures trauma, invites racial profiling and signals that some lives are disposable. It would tether our local economy to human suffering and stain the moral witness of our city.

If this project moves forward, city and county ordinances alone will have limited power to stop it, and that reality can feel discouraging.

But the crowd at Holmeswood tells a different story. It tells us there is a critical mass of people in this community who refuse to surrender their conscience to fear. People who believe that transparency, accountability and human dignity must shape how power operates. People willing to show up, learn and stand together.

In the spirit of civil rights icon John Lewis, Kansas City is being invited into some necessary and peaceful “good trouble.”

For years, Kansas City and Jackson County have invested in building a more just and inclusive future. We understand that strong communities are built through relationship and not intimidation.

Yes, our immigration system is broken. And yes, documented abuses by some ICE agents have created deep fear and mistrust. We can hold both of these realities in dynamical tension with each other.

We can also seek reform without abandoning our commitment to dignity and the sacred worth of every human being.

My call is this: In the days ahead, let’s not allow fear or outside pressure to fracture the interconnectedness that makes Kansas City so strong. We may disagree about policy, but we must never lose sight of our shared humanity.

So let’s choose courage over fear. Dignity over domination. And may we continue building a Kansas City and Jackson County where every person is seen, protected and valued.

David McDaniel is senior pastor of Holmeswood Church in Kansas City.