Hampton Bays Nun Arrested In Washington, D.C. While Protesting Treatment Of Children At The Border

Sister Mary Beth Moore usually puts her hands together in prayer, but last week, in Washington, D.C., she put them together as she was placed in handcuffs and arrested for protesting the treatment of undocumented children.

Sister Moore, 71, has devoted nearly 10 years to supporting the East End immigrant community, working full-time at Centro Corazon De Maria, an immigrant services nonprofit out of the Church of St. Rosalie on Montauk Highway in Hampton Bays, and serving as chairperson of Neighbors In Support of Immigrants.

She attended the Catholic Day of Action for Immigrant Children on July 18, a protest organized by several Catholic organizations to call on the Trump administration and members of Congress to end the practice of detaining children at the U.S. border, a topic that has received heavy news coverage in the past year. The event is the first phase of a campaign by Catholic leaders to address the treatment of undocumented families in the country.

“Many of us have been terribly anguished about the detention of children, which is cruel and completely unjustified, and I felt really helpless not knowing how to fix it, so to speak,” Sister Moore said as her reason for participating.

She was one of 70 Catholic nuns, priests and lay advocates who were arrested after refusing to leave the Russell Senate Office Building, on the eastern end of the National Mall, which they occupied as an act of faithful resistance. More than 100 others joined them to pray the Rosary and sing songs during the protest but did not stay long enough to be arrested.

“When we were asked to leave, we refused to leave. We said ‘no.’ Together, we chanted, ‘We respectfully refuse to cooperate,’” said Sister Moore, who lives in a convent in Bellmore, about 60 miles west of Hampton Bays, where she works.

She explained that those who participated agreed that staying to be arrested—which they knew would happen if they rejected three warnings from the police—would highlight their efforts and the issue they sought to change.

“We really wanted to create attention that all of our fellow Americans, whether they’re Republicans or Democrats or completely apolitical, that everyone would rise up and insist that these children be released from detention,” Sister Moore said.

She and the others who were arrested were placed in a holding room a few blocks away for three hours, during which time they were each fingerprinted and asked to pay a $50 fine before leaving.

Despite being handcuffed the whole time and forced to sit in a sweltering holding room, she said she felt a lot of “joy and relaxation” from those around her who had traveled from different parts of the country.

Outside the facility, a support team of four to five people hugged and thanked them for their dedication, she said.

This was Sister Moore’s first act of nonviolent civil disobedience—and she said she would do it again because she believes that much in the cause.

Now, back from her trip, she said she has a stronger commitment to continue advocating for the release of detained immigrant children. “It’s not about us. It’s about the plight of the children,” she said.