By SUZANNE DOWNING
Anchorage Democratic congressional candidate Matt Schultz is hosting an immigration-enforcement resistance training session this weekend at First Presbyterian Church in downtown Anchorage, adding another political flashpoint to his long-running activism against federal immigration authorities.
The event, scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 17, at 1 pm is advertised as a training on “how to stay safe around aggressive immigration enforcement.” Schultz has invited immigration attorney Asa Hohman to lead the session.
Schultz is running for Congress against incumbent Congressman Nick Begich. Schultz’ campaign has focused heavily on opposing federal immigration policies, criticizing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and promoting what he calls sanctuary-style protections for immigrants.
First Presbyterian Church, where Schultz serves as pastor, has increasingly functioned as a hub for progressive political organizing. Schultz, who moved to Alaska from New York, has built a national profile as an activist pastor aligned with pro-abortion groups, LGBTQ organizations, and movements opposing what he describes as “Christian nationalism.”
Last summer, Schultz was one of the organizers of Anchorage’s “No Kings” protests, a nationwide movement targeting conservative and pro-Trump political causes. During those rallies, First Presbyterian Church invited demonstrators to leave protest signs on the church lawn. Schultz and volunteers later removed the wooden stakes from the signs and delivered the placards to the Anchorage office of US Sen. Dan Sullivan as a form of political protest.
The upcoming training is being promoted as a legal education session for people concerned about encounters with ICE agents. Attorney Asa Hohman, who practices immigration law in Anchorage, is expected to explain legal rights and options for individuals who may be subject to immigration enforcement actions.
Schultz has been an outspoken critic of ICE, often accusing the agency of operating in ways that he says intimidate immigrant communities. While there is nothing illegal about providing legal information or holding educational events, critics have raised concerns that such trainings can blur the line between explaining rights and actively encouraging resistance to federal law enforcement.
Organizers have not publicly released details about the specific curriculum or materials that will be used in Saturday’s session.
The event yet again demonstrates how Schultz is using his church and political campaign in a way that seems increasingly intertwined.
4 thoughts on “Anchorage congressional candidate Schultz hosting anti-ICE training at his downtown church”
Thank you Shultz!
Hopefully the training specifically covers what legal actions are and what illegal actions are when “protesting” federal law and sworn public servants who are responsible for enforcing said law. In fact they should probably spend the majority of the training covering what those who are opposed to federal law shouldn’t do since it seems like many activists are more about anarchy than protesting laws or the enforcement of the law. They should also spend sometime informing those who are interested in this training how our representative Constitutional Republic functions through a democratic voting process (democracy). If these people wish to affect change they need to do so in a legal manner, aiding and abetting people who have broken the law is a crime. Supporting criminals including rapists, child molesters, murderers, human traffickers, and the like isn’t an honorable pursuit.
Where and when does a church or religious organization cross the line and become a political organization?
End tax exempt status for these charlatans. They have much more money than the average Anchorage taxpayers.
ICE will be in the audience. Guaranteed.