Apparently there was nothing else requiring prayer, charity or hands-on assistance in Ohio Sunday morning, because a collection of Catholic sisters decided the most useful thing they could do was stand outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office and complain about federal agents enforcing immigration law.

Nearly 700 demonstrators gathered outside the ICE field office in Blue Ash, Ohio, where Haitian immigrants had been ordered to report after the Trump administration ended Temporary Protected Status for Haiti.

The first man arrived at 7:42 a.m. and was met by protesters carrying banners and chanting, “ICE does not speak for the people! No neighbor of ours is illegal!”

That is certainly catchy. It also has roughly the same legal authority as chanting, “Parking tickets do not speak for the people! No Buick of ours is illegally parked!”

Sisters from several Catholic orders stationed themselves near the entrance with signs bearing messages such as “Love Your Neighbor, No Exceptions” and “It’s So Bad Even the NUNS Are Mad!”

Yes, the nuns were mad. The federal government somehow continued functioning.

The sisters belong to several religious orders, including the Sisters of Mercy, Sisters of the Precious Blood, Sisters of Charity and Sisters of Divine Providence. Many participate in the Ohio Sisters Justice Network, an organization that campaigns on immigration, human trafficking and other political issues under the banner of “gospel justice.”

One of the demonstrators, Sister Carren Herring, asked where society’s conscience had gone as a Haitian man entered the building. He emerged several hours later wearing a GPS ankle monitor.

About a dozen Haitian immigrants reportedly appeared for appointments that day. Most were residents of the Springfield area who had received notices from ICE after the administration began enforcing the termination of Haiti’s Temporary Protected Status.

TPS was created to provide temporary protection to people from countries affected by war, natural disasters or other extraordinary conditions. Haitians have received that protection for years because of political instability and violence in Haiti.

The key word, however, is “temporary.”

Temporary apparently now means “permanent unless ending it makes somebody with a handmade sign upset.”

“But They Came Here Legally”

Sister Sally Duffy argued that Haitians covered by TPS entered or remained in the country legally and are now being treated unfairly because the government changed the rules.

“I’ve had people say to me, ‘Sister, they need to come here legally.’ Well, they came here legally,” Duffy said.

That is partly the entire issue. TPS provides legal permission to remain in the country for a limited period. It does not automatically grant permanent residency, citizenship or an eternal exemption from immigration enforcement.

Duffy compared ending TPS to moving a football kicker from a 30-yard attempt to a 70-yard attempt with one second remaining in a Cincinnati Bengals game.

It was a colorful analogy, although football games generally have rules, clocks and endings. Apparently immigration programs are supposed to have rules but never clocks and certainly never endings.

The administration began sending notices to Haitian residents of Springfield in late July. The Supreme Court had previously allowed the government’s plan to terminate the protections to proceed.

Springfield, a city of approximately 60,000 people, has experienced a substantial influx of Haitian immigrants in recent years. Roughly one-quarter of its residents are now reportedly Haitian, and many have been living in the United States under TPS.

Religious and secular organizations have assembled volunteers, gathered supplies and prepared for the possibility of large-scale deportations. They have also raised legitimate questions about what could happen to families containing both removable immigrants and American-born children.

Those are serious logistical and humanitarian concerns. They deserve planning, competent legal assistance and honest discussion.

What they do not magically do is erase immigration law because several hundred people showed up with banners on a humid Sunday morning.

Demonstrators Accuse ICE of Secret Deportation Plan

Sister Patricia Wittberg suggested that federal officials want Haitian immigrants quietly removed without attracting the kind of public backlash previously seen during immigration operations in Minneapolis.

“They’d love for all the Haitians to be deported in secret,” Wittberg said. She added that the sisters could at least witness what they consider un-Christian conduct.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson responded that TPS was always intended to be temporary and said the agency continues conducting immigration-enforcement operations throughout the country. DHS declined to discuss ongoing or future operations.

Catholic sisters and other clergy have organized similar demonstrations outside ICE facilities in Chicago, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. The Blue Ash gathering also included a Jewish rabbi, a Baptist minister and a Muslim chaplain.

Organizers encouraged participants to wear religious clothing so their faith affiliations would be readily apparent. Two biological sisters belonging to the Sisters of Notre Dame wore traditional habits while standing near the ICE entrance.

Pastors from Springfield offered prayer and communion to immigrants before their appointments.

One sister described attending the demonstration as another form of prayer.

Fine. Pray. Offer communion. Comfort frightened families. Help people obtain competent immigration attorneys. Arrange temporary care for children. Collect food, clothing and medicine. Those are tangible acts of mercy that could actually help somebody.

But standing outside an ICE office and pretending federal agents invented the expiration date on a temporary immigration program is political theater wearing a habit.

The protesters are entitled to oppose the administration’s policy. They are entitled to argue that Haiti remains too dangerous for deportations and that TPS should be extended again. They can lobby Congress, file lawsuits and demand a permanent legislative solution.

But spare everyone the astonishment that “temporary” protection might eventually end—and the implication that enforcing that expiration is some incomprehensible act of villainy.

What the hell did everyone think “temporary” meant?

If the sisters believe the law is wrong, they should campaign to change it. If they want to help Haitian families, there is no shortage of useful work available.

Otherwise, quit treating a Sunday-morning protest as though waving signs outside a government building has suddenly settled immigration policy, constitutional authority and Christian theology all at once.

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