SAN DIEGO — The message for the dozens of volunteers who would soon be supporting immigrants at their court hearings was clear.
“We’re not there to obstruct or prevent any arrest,” said the Rev. Hung Nguyen, associate pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Logan Heights. “We’re there to accompany people.”
The orientation meeting Monday was a precursor to the launch of The Faithful Accompaniment in Trust and Hope, or FAITH, a pilot program that will have religious leaders and volunteers present at San Diego’s immigration court to offer spiritual support, comfort and prayer to those who need it.
The program began Tuesday and will run through at least the end of the month as a salve to asylum seekers and immigrants navigating the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration. Since late May, in an effort to ramp up deportations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been detaining people as they exit immigration courts, often after a judge has dismissed their cases at the request of government attorneys.
Auxiliary Bishop of San Diego Ramon Bejarano blesses the volunteers at the orientation. (Ana Ramirez / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
The tactic has affected individuals who have been in the country for less than two years and now face expedited removal.
The program is being organized by the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego, Our Lady of Guadalupe church and the San Diego Organizing Project, a network of faith and spiritual congregations. Other faith communities are expected to join the effort.
The plan continues the work done by several other human rights advocates who have volunteered to be present in courtroom hallways over the past several weeks. On June 20, as part of World Refugee Day, San Diego Catholic Bishop Michael Pham led a coalition of religious leaders that accompanied immigrants and asylum seekers.
A table displaying FAITH buttons for volunteers to wear to court is displayed while San Diego Catholic Bishop Michael Pham speaks about the pilot program. (Ana Ramirez / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
But on that day, the federal immigration agents who usually wait in the hallway left shortly after the group arrived. There were no arrests, according to the volunteers who regularly join immigrants.
Pham said at the time he would consider returning if needed. He is expected to do so on Tuesday.
When asked if he expected a day without arrests again, he noted that “as we enter the court, anything could happen.”
“But we are being present. And that’s what is important for the people to see that there is support, that the people do care. That’s what is needed,” the newly installed bishop added.
Pham said he hopes refugees and asylum seekers will find some peace in the presence of volunteers as they prepare to face what lies ahead.
More than 50 volunteers have already signed up for the program. On Monday, they gathered at the San Diego Catholic Pastoral Center in Clairemont for a blessing and orientation. Three rows of volunteers had their questions answered while Pham listened from the back of the room.
The Rev. Scott Santarosa of Our Lady of Guadalupe said the bishop was interested in developing a program to continue the momentum seen in June.
Santarosa, who was part of the group that went to the federal building then, said he has been back in courtrooms ever since. He described witnessing people being arrested after their hearings as “terrible.”
For Gloria Morales-Palos, a community volunteer and co-chair of the San Diego Organizing Project, the program hits close to home. She said that she lived as an undocumented immigrant for several years, but she has been a U.S. citizen for 20 years now.
“I know what it’s like to be in a system where you don’t know what will happen or what your future will be, or if you’ll be separated from your family,” she said. “Under this administration, we have seen things get worse. If we cannot stop the deportation process for many families, then at least they should not go through it alone. They should feel supported and know that someone cares about them.”
On Friday, a federal judge paused the Trump administration’s efforts to fast-track the deportation of people who legally entered the country through humanitarian parole programs, including the now-defunct CBP One appointment process.
Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement on Monday that the ruling “is lawless and won’t stand.”
The effect of the ruling could be reflected in courtrooms — some of the immigrants who were being arrested following hearings had arrived in the U.S. through CBP One.
Margie Carroll, a volunteer, becomes emotional while learning about the pilot program. (Ana Ramirez / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Crystal Felix from the American Bar Association’s Immigration Justice Project of San Diego said the ruling doesn’t apply to other people who are still being arrested at their hearings.
“We’re hopefully there to witness and make sure that people in that posture are not getting arrested,” Felix added.
Felix, who presented part of the orientation, said the program shows immigrants and asylum seekers that “they are not alone.”
“It might influence the ICE agents, perhaps the government attorneys, the judges, to act in a little bit more of a respectful manner, to just make sure that dignity is still the No. 1 thing,” Felix said, “because these are our brothers and sisters.”
