JAMESTOWN FRIENDS MEETING
Policy Statement
Minute on Defending the Rights and Religious Freedoms of Migrant Communities and All
People of Faith by Preserving Sensitive Locations
Jamestown Friends Meeting
As members of the Society of Friends (Quakers) we stand firmly in support of the safety, rights,
and religious freedoms of everyone, including the immigrant communities we know, belong to,
and love. We must respond to the particular insult of allowing enforcement officials to enter
critical, sacred, and public places of refuge. The presence of armed law enforcement officials,
particularly in the spirit of force, in our places of worship is antithetical to the Quaker peace
testimony and to our belief that “there is that of God” in everyone.
Sensitive locations–places of worship, schools, health care facilities, places where children
gather, and social services centers–are locations where immigration enforcement activities have
been prohibited in most instances. In sensitive locations Immigration and Customs Enforcement
(ICE) officers are not allowed to conduct enforcement actions including arrests, civil
apprehensions, searches, interviews, and surveillance.
ICE leadership initially established protected areas in 2011. Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) Secretary Mayorkas issued a memorandum in 2021 strengthening the protected areas
guidance. Tragically, on January 20, 2025, the Trump Administration rescinded the protected
areas policy, replacing it with an unreleased directive that gives ICE agents unbridled power to
take enforcement actions in any of these locations.
We affirm the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) document The World We Seek
which states that while “[w]e acknowledge the role of well-trained law enforcement to protect
community safety”), we also take great concern with the overextension of any authority and the
abandonment of community-minded discretion.”
Approved in Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business on February 4, 2025.
Kathryn F. Adams, Presiding Clerk
Minutes of Concern
Minute of Concern Regarding the Pentagon’s Proposed Public Execution
Jamestown Friends Meeting
October 13, 2026
As Quakers, we believe there is a spark of the divine in every human being. On October 9, 2026, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the upcoming execution of former U.S. Army Major Nidal Hasan by firing squad will be livestreamed to the public. We oppose the death penalty on the grounds that executing a person rejects their humanity and the possibility of redemption. We further reject the possibility of a public execution believing that such a spectacle demeans our country and normalizes brutality. There has not been a public execution in the United States since the 1930s. Our nation has been critical of public executions in countries such as Iran, North Korea, and Afghanistan. If the Pentagon carries out the public execution of Hasan, we show that we are no better than the countries we have criticized.
Micah 6:8 states, “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
Please voice your opposition to this proposed act of brutality.
Approved by Jamestown Friends Monthly Meeting on October 13, 2026
Jan Purser, Presiding Clerk