The Godmothers of the Disappeared have gathered every Tuesday for months now.
On Tuesday August 19, 2025 I was blessed to be with them at the Federal Building in downtown Los Angeles for their weekly Godmothers of the Disappeared Vigil.
They have been gathering at 300 Los Angeles Street to bear witness against the escalating attacks on immigrants. These attacks have grown into a full blown crisis where ICE agents abduct community members and detain people, often without due process, without access to lawyers or meaningful communication with their families.
The organizers of this local event are now working to build out similar Godmothers of the Disappeared Vigils in cities all over the United States. Click the “Download” button to see the “Toolkit for Action” that can fully equip you and your community to host an Vigil.
In setting the context for their prophetic witness, the Godmothers of the Disappeared describe the work like this:
As organizers, we are students of history and learn from the legacy of prophetic witness of those who came before us. In 1982, mothers and their supporters in Argentina, whose loved ones had been taken away by a military dictatorship, began a weekly vigil in the Plaza de Mayo, asking for the disappeared to be returned alive. We continue that tradition in response to the current taking away of asylum seekers and other immigrants without due process and without letting their families know where they are.
Now, amid the ICE raids and militarization in Los Angeles, every Tuesday at noon, women faith leaders and supporters have gathered in front of the Federal Building wearing pink bandanas and holding daisies and other flowers – symbols of peace, resistance, and remembrance.
We are the Godmothers of the Disappeared, and now we’re calling on Mothers and Godmothers and all those who are willing to stand in solidarity with immigrants across the country to take action.
Holding daisies, processing around the Federal Building (which houses an ICE Office, Immigration Courthouse, and a Detention Center, among other federal agencies) the vigil leaders give testimony about those who have been taken from their community. On this day (and every Tuesday) we sing, we pray, we demand the release of those being abducted, detained, deported, and disappeared by the US Government, and we urge ICE agents and other officials to stop participating in the persecution of immigrants. The vigil ends with the same ritual every week — those in attendance gather in a circle and then one by one lay down their flower, offer a silent word of personal prayer, and then rejoin the circle of those committed to working for justice.
The Vigil began months ago with five people praying together outside the Federal Building in downtown Los Angeles. On the late August day that I was there over 100 people took part in the vigil. This is holy work; faithful and committed, powerful and empowering.
As the vigil has grown here in Los Angeles, the organizers are hoping that it will grow across the country. They are inviting you and your community to consider holding a similar event. They have prepared a Toolkit so that you will not have to be starting from scratch or have to re-invent the wheel. The toolkit includes:
- Why Now? Setting the Context
- Note to Speakers
- Sample Vigil Program
- Talking Points
- A Sample Media Advisory
- Downloadable Image Files for artwork depicting Family Separation
Find the complete toolkit for the Godmothers of the Disappeared Vigil here:
bit.ly/GodmothersofDisappeared
peace,
Rev. Brian Frederick-Gray
Director for Justice & Advocacy Ministries
Disciples Home Missions
