‘They need help’: Pastor recalls church stepping up after ICE raid in O’Neill

By Pete Cuddihy

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    Nebraska (KETV) — Tuesday’s ICE raid was the biggest in the state of Nebraska since the 2018 immigration operation in O’Neill. It displaced families and sent shockwaves through the community.

This week, a pastor in O’Neill who helped his community back then is reflecting on the current state of affairs.

Pastor Brian Loy says both the town of O’Neill and his church were divided when the raid happened, saying he lost friends after deciding to help displaced people. Despite that, he says he would help them again in a heartbeat.

Loy said, “There was a sense of fear when the raid occurred. We had 589 people that were displaced. Over in a matter of minutes.”

At the time, he was the pastor at O’Neill United Methodist Church.

He made it the church’s mission to step up and support families that were torn apart.

“These people needed care. They needed assurance. They needed food. They needed someone just to hug them,” Loy said.

And with the help of volunteers and donations, the church did.

“We started feeding them, that became monumental — 589 people,” Loy said.

Providing those in need with two meals a day, with Loy even digging into his own pocket to help.

“We had to buy freezers and I bought four cows myself to help feed them, with hamburger. I had it all processed into hamburger. It was monumental, but we had a lot of people donating,” Loy said.

But he said not everyone in town approved of helping immigrants.

“It was a divided community and definitely a divided church,” Loy said.

Some argued that the displaced people did not need to be helped.

But the division in town didn’t stop Loy.

Now in 2025, the O’Neill church continues to feed the community, and those who are stepping up are the same people who were originally served.

“It was ironic because as we had that pantry and people started to go back to work, these Hispanic people started work in the pantry, giving back to the community that helped them,” Loy said.

Seven years later, another large-scale raid happened in Omaha.

“For the people that are surrounding that community, just love on them. Let them know that they’re not alone,” Loy said.

He is hoping that the immigration process can be made easier in the future.

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