(RNS) — The Rev. Tanya Lopez was sitting in her office at Downey Memorial Christian Church near Los Angeles on Wednesday (June 11) when her husband, the church’s administrative pastor, rushed in to tell her “something” was happening outside. Alarmed, the pair ran out to the church’s parking lot, which sits tucked into the northeast section of the suburb.
Outside the church in Downey, California, they found multiple unmarked vehicles and at least six men who were ambling around the parking lot as they detained an individual. All were masked and wearing what appeared to be plainclothes other than vests with patches, which, in most cases, simply read “POLICE.”
Lopez, a Disciples of Christ minister and the church’s senior pastor, told Religion News Service she responded the same way as many other Los Angeles religious leaders amid the widespread immigration crackdown President Donald Trump has initiated in the area: She began advocating for the man she assumed was an immigrant.
“Jesus literally showed me the way,” she said in a phone interview.
It was the beginning of what the pastor describes as a harrowing experience, a clash of trends either accelerated or brought about by the Trump administration: a wave of immigration raids often instituted by masked, difficult-to-identify men, a decision to rescind a policy deterring immigration agents from conducting raids in churches and growing faith-based resistance to the government’s actions.
Lopez — who has been involved in vigils for people whose family members have been arrested during the ongoing blitz of immigration raids in the area — said she and her husband turned on their cell phones and began recording as the unidentified men in masks began detaining another man in the parking lot.
The pastor demanded that the masked men identify themselves and which federal agency they worked for. The men, she said, offered only vague responses.
“They kept saying, ‘I’m the police. We’re police,’ and they just kept gesturing to their patches,” Lopez said. “I just decided to tell them, ‘Anybody can buy something like that off of Amazon.’”
In response, Lopez said, the men threw their heads back dismissively before walking toward her and instructing her to “get back.”
Undeterred, Lopez turned her attention to the man being detained.
“I kept shouting over them in Spanish, ‘What is your name? Tell me your date of birth. Who can I call? Who do you need me to call?’” she said.
The pastor said she was especially disturbed by the fact that the man was alone, worrying that his family won’t have “any way of finding him.” During the entire encounter, Lopez said, she did not see the masked men display any kind of paperwork or present a warrant.
Throughout the encounter, Lopez said, one of the masked men repeatedly gestured toward his weapon, which appeared to be a large firearm resembling those used by police to fire “non-lethal” rounds. Eventually, she said, he stopped gesturing and simply raised it in her direction.
“I felt threatened,” she told RNS.
In a brief recording of the incident provided to RNS, Lopez can be heard saying, “I have the right to be here. I do not have to listen to you. This is the property of the church — Downey Memorial Christian Church — and we are not okay with you being on our property.”
@religionnews Pastor Tanya Lopez addresses unidentified agents in the parking lot of Downey Memorial Christian Church, Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Downey, California. (Video by Tanya Lopez) #religionnews #news #politics #christianity ♬ original sound – RNS
In an exchange not captured by the clip, Lopez said her husband, standing nearby, reminded the men that they were on private property.
One of the men, she said, replied: “The whole country is our property.”
Lopez said she approached one of the vehicles anyway, where she began yelling as loudly as she could into the passenger-side window.
“I just kept shouting in Spanish, ‘Don’t sign anything. Don’t tell them anything. Don’t sign anything,’” she said. “And then they pulled away.”
Images and footage of the incident shared with RNS show at least six individuals, all wearing masks to obscure their faces, participating in the detention of the person in the parking lot. In addition to plainclothes, most wore vests labeled “police” without any clear association with any federal agency.
One wore a patch in the shape of a badge that, without closer inspection, resembles badges used by multiple federal agencies.
However, one of the officers can be seen wearing a vest that appears to include, in small print that is partially obscured, the acronym “BORTAC” — a tactical police unit underneath U.S. Border Patrol known for participating in high-profile drug raids. Representatives for U.S. Border Patrol did not respond to a request to confirm the group’s involvement in the incident at Downey Memorial, but according to News Nation, the unit is among the federal agencies sent to LA as part of the Trump administration’s ongoing immigration crackdown in the city.
A White House spokesperson declined to comment when asked about the incident, directing RNS to the Department of Homeland Security for confirmation of federal involvement. DHS sent along a statement attributed to DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin that claimed ICE wasn’t in Downey the day of the incident.
“FALSE,” McLaughlin said in the statement. “ICE law enforcement was not even in Downey, CA yesterday. This is just another false narrative to try and demonize our brave ICE law enforcement by claiming they were raiding a church.”
McLaughlin dismissed any photo evidence of the incident in the parking lot, saying any photos were from a criminal arrest earlier this year. However, McLaughlin’s statement appears to have been copied and pasted from a different press inquiry, as the arrest McLaughlin referred to was at a different church from April.
RNS followed up multiple times seeking clarification, such as whether agents from another federal agency — including Border Patrol, which operates underneath DHS — were in the area on Wednesday. DHS did not reply.
Officials from the city of Downey directly contradicted McLaughlin in a statement sent to RNS, claiming “federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were conducting enforcement operations within various areas of the City of Downey” on Wednesday. City officials said the Downey Police Department “does not assist or collaborate with ICE” as a matter of policy, but also does not hinder the federal agency’s operations.
“The Department remains committed to maintaining public safety and is prepared to respond to any illegal or unsafe activity that may arise during these enforcement operations, as it would in any situation impacting community safety,” the statement from the city read.
Asked about McLaughlin’s statement, Lopez said she can “100% verify that is a complete lie,” noting that whether or not the men were ICE agents or law enforcement officials from another federal agency, most are operating underneath DHS.
In an interview with RNS, the Rev. Terri Hord Owens, general minister and president of the Disciples of Christ denomination, condemned the incident, calling it “abominable and unconscionable.” She denounced the Trump administration’s decision to rescind an internal government policy instituted in 2011 that discouraged immigration raids at “sensitive locations” — namely, houses of worship, hospitals and schools.
Owens’ denomination is one of dozens currently suing the Trump administration over the policy change, with the case currently before the U.S. Court of Appeals.
Lopez also reflected on the impact of the policy change, saying the elimination of the “sensitive locations” policy has had a chilling effect on some members of her congregation.
“The rescinding of sensitive locations has been incredibly painful for so many people,” she said. “They have asked me, ‘Pastor, can they really come inside the church?’ And I have had to tell them, from what I know now: yes they can.”
Owens called for nonviolent resistance, saying faith leaders and “all people of goodwill cannot, in good conscience, be silent while this kind of thing is happening in our country.”
In a separate statement issued Thursday afternoon, the Disciples of Christ encouraged local pastors to attend worship at the church this coming Sunday.
“We are committed to sharing the limitless love of God from our doorsteps to the ends of the earth, even when fear and intimidation visits our doorsteps, and confusion challenges our ministries,” the statement read.
Lopez’s voice cracked with emotion as she discussed the impact of the immigration raids on her community.
“I want to just continue to reiterate: these are not criminals,” she said. “These are just people living their lives, and they’re being taken.”
