Operation Cacti: Compassionate Care for Children

As Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents make devastating sweeps through cities and towns in the United States, the public has been witness to compelling evidence of brutal and indiscriminate detention of U.S. residents, both with and without documentation. Whether in person or via news reports, most in the U.S. have seen alarming images of people snatched from their cars, their homes, their workplaces, and the courthouses to which they were ordered to report. It is a grievous pattern to witness.

For many children across the U.S., it is far more personal. Over 5 million children in the United States live with a household member, often a parent, who is undocumented and at increased risk of being detained or deported.

It is a reality that Reverend Dr. Esther Robles came face to face with this summer. Robles, who is ordained in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and serves as Bridge Pastor at First United Church of Tampa (UCC), met L.A. area pastors at the July 2025 Disciples General Assembly who relayed the distressing experiences of children in their congregations who had witnessed ICE agents confronting and detaining their family members. In response, Robles quickly began coordinating a compassion care project for these children and others similarly impacted across the country.

In collaboration with colleagues from the Christian Church, including the Central Pastoral Office for Hispanic Ministries and Week of Compassion, Robles put together a robust resource in just a few months, creating a collection of Bible stories, activities, and discussion questions that families can use at home or at church to process the traumatizing experience of ICE invasion and its impact on children and their family life. The goal of the project as Robles shares, is “encouragement and empowerment for oppressed immigrant families on an emotional and spiritual level.”

Robles connected with Megan Bergert, Minister for Refugee and Migration Services, early in the project development, hoping to offer Operation Cacti not only to the congregation she serves but other UCC churches as well. Bergert joined Robles’s congregation in-person for worship on November 9, offering support and affirmation of the project as the congregation’s youth received their own Operation Cacti kits, which included crocheted teddy bears handmade by a First United Church of Tampa congregant. This vision- and goal-sharing culminated in the Global HOPE team awarding Robles a MIRA (Migrant, Immigrant, Refugee, Asylee) grant for Operation Cacti to fund 100 kits for children in the Tampa area and beyond.

In addition to the stories and activities for children and youth, the project will also offer Scripture commentary and sermons for pastors. And in order to educate children who have not been directly impacted by immigration raids and enforcement, Operation Cacti supplies reflection questions that can be used to better understand immigration and ways to advocate for migrant justice and well-being.

Opportunities for individual and collective learning abound, even from the metaphor of the title of the project. “We call it ‘cacti’ because cacti are resilient plants able to grow in desert places, which are often dangerous, dry, and arid, but filled with beauty, life, growth, and possibility,” says Robles. “It’s a place where people, communities, and nations have passed through for centuries in search of safety and a better place. Our shared history of faith tells us that it is also a place where God is actively present, guiding, protecting, and providing for people in unexpected ways.”

UCC congregations can engage in Operation Cacti by requesting the kits for their children and youth or by donating small comfort items (such as teddy bears or plush animals) to be included in the kits. Please contact Megan Bergert for more information.