Quakers march against Trump’s crackdown on immigrants, carrying on a long tradition

PRINCETON, N.J. — A group of Quakers is marching more than 300 miles from New York City to Washington to demonstrate against the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrants.

The march extends a long tradition of Quaker activism. Historically, Quakers have been involved in peaceful protests to end wars and slavery and support women’s voting rights, in line with their commitment to justice and peace. More recently, Quakers sued the federal government this year over federal immigration agents’ ability to make arrests at houses of worship.

Organizers of the march, which set out May 4 and is due to reach its destination May 22, say their protest seeks to show solidarity with migrants and other groups that are being targeted by President Trump’s administration.

“It feels really daunting to be up against such critical and large and in some ways existential threats,” said Jess Hobbs Pifer, a 25-year-old Quaker and march organizer, who said she felt “a connection” to the faith’s long history of activism.

“I just have to put one foot in front of the other to move towards something better, something more true to what Quakers before us saw for this country and what people saw for the American experiment, the American dream,” she said.

Their goal is to walk south from the Flushing Quaker Meeting House in Queens — across New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Pennsylvania — to the U.S. Capitol to deliver a copy of the Flushing Remonstrance — a 17th century document that called for religious freedom and opposed a ban on Quaker worship.

Quakers say it remains relevant in 2025 as a reminder to “uphold the guiding principle that all are welcome.”

“We really saw a common thread between the ways that the administration is sort of flying against the norms and ideals of constitutional law and equality before the law,” said Max Goodman, 28, a Quaker who joined the march.

“Even when they aren’t breaking rules explicitly, they’re really engaging in bad faith with the spirit of pluralism, tolerance and respect for human dignity that undergirds our founding documents as Americans and also shows up in this document that’s really important in New York Quaker history.”

A history of resistance

The Religious Society of Friends — best known as the Quakers — originated in 17th century England.

The Christian group was founded by George Fox, an Englishman who objected to Anglican emphasis on ceremony. In the 1640s, he said he heard a voice that led him to develop a personal relationship with Christ, described as the “inner light.”

Fox taught that the inner light emancipates a person from adherence to any creed, ecclesiastical authority or ritual forms.

Brought to court for opposing the established church, Fox tangled with a judge who derided him as a “quaker,” in reference to his agitation over religious matters.

Following the faith’s core beliefs in nonviolence and justice, Quakers have demonstrated for the abolition of slavery, in favor of the suffrage movement, against both World Wars, and the U.S. roles in the wars in Vietnam and Afghanistan, said Ross Brubeck, 38, one of the Quaker march organizers.

They also joined anti-World Trade Organization protests in Seattle and the Black Lives Matter demonstrations after the 2020 murder of George Floyd by police.

“Within the DNA of Quakerism is actions speaking out against authority,” said Brubeck, who was marching along a trail in New Jersey with companions waving an upside-down American flag, signifying the nation in distress.

“Quakers have had a central role in opposition to repression within the United States since its founding,” Brubeck said.

The basic unit of Quaker organization is the weekly meeting, which corresponds to the congregation in other churches. Quakers gather for silent worship in meeting houses, where they wait for a message from God to move through them until they speak.

When Brubeck and his group reached downtown Princeton, they were met by members of the local Quaker group, who praised them for their effort and guided them to their meeting house. After taking their shoes off their blistery feet, some rested on wooden pews and later prayed in silence, holding hands in a circle in preparation for another long walk.

“I felt humbled by their presence knowing what a long way they’ve been walking,” said Casey Oware, a member of the Princeton Friends Meeting. “And also a sense of connection knowing that we’re fighting for the same thing.”

Her friend, Marae McGhee, a retired teacher and fellow member of the group, agreed: “It’s such a disturbing time, and I think a lot of people feel that there’s little they can do. But these folks are doing it — they’re giving their feet and their energy.”

Legal challenge to Trump

Quaker practices and beliefs vary from a more Bible-centered Christianity, with pastors as worship leaders, to a more liberal approach with less structured worship and a wide range of teachings.

One of the most well-known Quakers was William Penn, who founded Pennsylvania, following the faith’s emphasis on religious tolerance. The group became influential in Philadelphia — where Penn’s statue today presides atop City Hall overlooking downtown — and other cities.

But members of the group have also faced scorn for refusing to join wars due to their belief in pacifism and nonviolence. Some were persecuted and even killed for trying to spread their religious beliefs.

Earlier this year, five Quaker congregations filed a lawsuit challenging a Trump administration move giving immigration agents more leeway to make arrests at houses of worship.

The Quaker groups were later joined by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and a Sikh temple. After that, more than two dozen Christian and Jewish groups representing millions of Americans — including the Episcopal Church, the Union for Reform Judaism and the Mennonites — filed a similar lawsuit, but a federal judge ruled against them last month.

During the presidential campaign, Trump repeated that immigrants were an existential threat to America. Immigration into the U.S., both legal and illegal, surged during President Biden’s administration, and Trump assailed that influx in ways that proved persuasive among voters.

Since returning to the White House, Trump has launched a campaign of immigration enforcement that has pushed the limits of executive power and clashed with federal judges who have ruled against him.

“Immigrants are the ones experiencing the most acute persecution in the United States,” Brubeck said. “The message to Trump is that the power is not his to make.”

Henao writes for the Associated Press.