Immigrants in the D.C. area who rely on local food pantries to get by are apparently not showing up as often these days.
“They are scared to come get the food, so it’s kind of disturbing,” said Pastor Abdul K. Sesay, of City of Light Church in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Sesay is also the executive director of City of Light Helping Hands, a food pantry that he said helps anyone in need — documented or undocumented.
The pastor said the recent crackdown by the Trump administration has changed things.
While 30 to 40 cars could once be seen lined up by 10 a.m. on a Sunday at the pantry — even though the distribution does not start until 12:30 p.m. — the number of waiting vehicles has dwindled into the single digits.
“I’ve viewed it myself, 10 o’clock service, we have only a couple of cars — maybe nine or five, something like that,” he said.
Sesay said as an immigrant himself, he understands the fear, but that doesn’t change the need for help.
“We know that people need food, both documented and undocumented. They need food,” he said.
Sesay said he’s worried about the ripple effects of people not showing up and maybe going hungry.
“We want to see people who need food to come and be able to get food, because food is medicinal,” he said.
Sesay said his church will keep trying to meet that need: “We still continue to operate in a way that we just focus on the ZIP code.”
He explained that when people come for food, all they have to supply is what ZIP code they live in and how many people they live with.
“We don’t focus on any data, we don’t look at that,” he said, adding that the church is there to serve the community and anyone who is in need.
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