WASHINGTON — Nineteen D.C. area religious leaders were sending a message to federal officers that have been surging into the District -- Stay away from our churches.

"We recognize that as these law enforcement entities use the properties of houses of worship, they are implicating those worshipping communities in the erosion of Home Rule," the letter reads. "Making it look like those communities of faith agree with a federal takeover, and in accord with the racial profiling and disappearance of our neighbors, family members and friends."

Rev. Patricia Fears, among the two organizers of the letter, told WUSA Saturday that she heard from four or five church leaders about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement parking in their lots before carrying out their arrests.

Credit: WUSA9 Re

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