Faith leaders and other community members gathered Wednesday for the 40th protest outside the Philadelphia ICE field office. Wednesday’s demonstration was led by the Jewish community and marked the final week of the “Interfaith Prayer Vigils for Immigrant Justice,” aimed at advocating for l ocal immigrant and refugee families. “There are immigrants who don’t come to the vigils. They can’t come to the vigils because they are too frightened to stand in front of this office and speak the truth about their lives, their families’ lives, their friends’ lives, and that feels so shameful to me, that in our country, people can’t stand up and speak the truth without fear of some kind of incrimination,” said Rabbi Linda Holtzman, who works with the group Tikkun Olam Chavurah. The demonstrations, coordinated by the New Sanctuary Movement of Philadelphia, began in November 2025 and have been held every Wednesday outside the Philadelphia ICE field office on North 18th Street. Wednesday’s protest was set to be the last, as 40 protests were planned. But Holtzman said that, thanks to the community’s response, the demonstrations will continue. “Just because we’ve reached this day doesn’t mean we’re stopping, doesn’t mean we’re ending,” said Holtzman said. ...read more read less