More than 200 people from numerous groups picketed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices on Jefferson Boulevard Sunday afternoon.

They came together to protest the detention of Mahmoud Khalil, who was involved in pro-Palestinian demonstrations on Columbia University’s campus and is a permanent resident of the United States. He has not been charged with a crime.

But then there was all the more reason to picket with the deportation of Dr. Rasha Alawieh, who has been working for Brown Medicine in the Division of Kidney Disease & Hypertension on an H-1B visa – and the arrest by ICE of Fabian Schmidt, a German national with a green card who, according to NBC News, is being held at the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls.

“There was a lot of energy, a lot of honking,” The Rev. E. Jarrett Kerbel, an Episcopal priest and organizer of the protest, said Monday. Kerbel said the picketing was orderly and that Warwick police sent two cruisers. Kerbel was at a loss to name all the churches and organizations protesting.

Initially the picketing was in support of Khalil, but as the cases of Dr. Alawieh and Schmidt became known, they were added to the cause. On Sunday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, called on the Trump administration to immediately readmit Dr. Alawieh, who traveled to Lebanon to visit family and was then prevented by U.S. Customs officials from reentering the United States.

“Deporting lawful immigrants like Dr. Alawieh without any basis undermines the rule of law and reinforces suspicion that our immigration system is turning into an anti-Muslim, white-supremacist institution that seeks to expel and turn away as many Muslims and people of color as possible,” CAIR wrote in a release.

The explanation on Monday from Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin, according to news reports including the New York Times:  “Last month, Rasha Alawieh traveled to Beirut, Lebanon, to attend the funeral of Hassan Nasrallah – a brutal terrorist who led Hezbollah, responsible for killing hundreds of Americans over a four-decade terror spree. Alawieh openly admitted to this to [Customs Border Protection] officers, as well as her support of Nasrallah. A visa is a privilege not a right – glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans is grounds for visa issuance to be denied. This is commonsense security.”

Kerbel, who is serving as an interim pastor for a local church, said “ICE is showing up at Kent County Court looking for people.” He said no one came out of the ICE office on Jefferson Boulevard and he suspected no one was there.

According to NBC, Astrid Senior, Schmidt’s mother, said she and her son moved to the United States from Germany in 2007 and received green cards in 2008. He lives in New Hampshire and renewed his permanent legal resident status last year.

Senior told NBC she has no idea why her son is being detained by U.S. immigration officials. She said her son, who once lived in California, faced misdemeanor charges roughly a decade ago. He has no active legal or court issues, she said. 

News of Schmidt’s arrest and detention was first reported by WGBH, a Boston area Public Broadcasting Service television station.

“We are all waiting to see if the administration is going to follow court orders,” said Kerbel. He also said he and others troubled by Trump’s actions are looking for leadership. He observed that fear over the loss of rights has brought together diverse groups that normally would not join forces.

“They face a common threat and band together,” he said.