Amos Fon, who’s originally from Cameroon, is active in his church community and visits churches across Montgomery County. But he said he’s seeing something distressing.
“Churches that were full of people are now almost empty,” he told WTOP.
But, he said, the thing that’s emptying churches isn’t due to what’s happening inside those sacred spaces.
“People are not staying away because they lost faith, they are staying away because they are afraid,” Fon said.
Jeriane Martinez Mapp, a student at Seneca Valley High School said she’s also seeing classrooms with fewer students. The hallways are emptier. And she said, it’s not because schools suddenly became less welcoming.
“Instead of feeling protected, our students are feeling targeted,” she said.
Orchid Dargahi, a national board certified teacher who works in the area of English Language Development at Newport Mill Middle School, said the foundation of any class instruction is creating an environment where kids feel safe. But she says that’s becoming less true over time for her students.
“Because I field questions like, ‘Can ICE just come into our school?’ before teaching kids how to write a paragraph,” Dargahi said.
The thing that’s driving what they are seeing, they said, is fear of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the kind of enforcement tactics they’ve seen in the news across the country — and in their own communities.
That’s why all three came out to speak in support of bills that were formally introduced before the Montgomery County Council on Tuesday.
A bill being introduced by Council member Will Jawando, the “Unmask ICE Act,” would prohibit federal, state and local law enforcement agents and officers from wearing masks — with some exceptions.
A bill introduced by Council member Kristin Mink, the “County Values Act,” would require a judicial warrant to access nonpublic areas of county facilities. Her bill would also bar ICE from access to county-owned parking lots, parking garages and vacant lots.
The bills were introduced during the county council meeting Tuesday.
Now that they’re introduced, the next step is scheduling public hearings. As of Tuesday evening, no hearing date had been scheduled.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2026 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
