{"id":326225,"date":"2025-07-25T17:40:21","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T21:40:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/?p=326225"},"modified":"2025-07-25T17:41:50","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T21:41:50","slug":"and-god-entered-with-the-immigrants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/world\/usa\/and-god-entered-with-the-immigrants\/","title":{"rendered":"And God entered with the immigrants"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the initiative of the UN, June 20th is celebrated annually as <\/span>World Refugee Day<\/b><\/a> with the aim of \u201cextolling the strength and courage of people who have been forced to leave their homes to escape conflict or persecution.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

That day, at St. Joseph\u2019s Cathedral in San Diego, California, a mass was celebrated by Father <\/span>Michael Pham,<\/b><\/a> born in Vietnam and the first bishop appointed in the United States by Pope Leo XIV.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLook with compassion on the refugees and exiles, on the segregated people and the lost children,\u201d he was heard saying in the homily.<\/span><\/p>\n

He continued: \u201cToday I remain grateful to the United States, a nation of immigrants, for allowing me to start over. It is sad and disheartening for me to see this kind of thing happening in this country today,\u201d he said, referring to the massive ICE raids and arrests of immigrants, both in San Diego, in the nearby Los Angeles, as well as throughout the country.<\/span><\/p>\n

Accompaniment<\/b><\/h3>\n

After mass, a group of priests decided to accompany several undocumented immigrants to the Edward J. Schwartz Federal Building, the headquarters of both Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the San Diego Immigration Court, where the immigrants had been summoned.<\/span><\/p>\n

It included Jesuit Father <\/span>Scott Santarosa<\/b><\/a>, a parish priest and one of its main organizers. Also present was the Bishop of San Diego, who came to the United States as a refugee in 1980 with his older sister and younger brother.<\/span><\/p>\n

Likewise, San Diego Auxiliary Bishop <\/span>Ram\u00f3n Bejarano<\/b><\/a>, born in Texas and who spent part of his childhood in Mexico, and Father Felipe Pulido, a Mexican who emigrated to the United States in his teens.<\/span><\/p>\n

The goal, they said, was to be able to sit in the courtrooms of different immigrants, hear their cases and accompany them. \u201cOur mission was simply to witness what was happening, to be present and, in some way, to communicate to them: \u2018We are with you. We see you. We are not ignoring you. You are not ignored by God, and we walk with you,\u2019\u201d Father Santarosa said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, they didn\u2019t intend to disrupt the court proceedings, but \u201ca couple of interesting things happened,\u201d Father Santarosa said. \u201cSeveral people who go there told me that when we arrived, all the ICE agents left. They disappeared.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSomeone also told me that the ICE agents presented the documentation of the people they were looking for, but they didn\u2019t stay because of our presence.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was also told that the way the judge handled the courtroom was different because of our presence.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The religious leaders remained in the building for about two hours. They didn\u2019t witness any arrests. And they saw several cases that received continuances. \u201cWe saw ICE agents in the hallways wearing masks,\u201d Father Santarosa said. \u201cOf course, it was an intimidating presence. In one of those cases, the attorney told me that our presence made a difference.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo the good news is that while we were there, no one was detained or deported. And it wasn\u2019t because we were trying to disrupt the trial. We were simply present,\u201d the father summarized.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the event became an action of a certain ecumenism.<\/span><\/p>\n

Imam <\/span>Taha Hassane,<\/b><\/a> director of the Islamic Center of San Diego, joined the Catholics as a show of unity. \u201cAs religious leaders, we preach from the pulpit; we preach and speak about justice, love, compassion and all of that. Now is the time to demonstrate these principles and values on the streets,\u201d he emphasized.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we left the room, after 15 or 20 minutes, the ICE agents were no longer there. Our presence, you could say, intimidated them. That\u2019s why they left,\u201d said <\/span>Felipe Pulido<\/b><\/a>, auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of San Diego.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are asking for this situation to stop. Whether the U.S. government wants to listen to it or not is their problem,\u201d added Ram\u00f3n Bejarano, second auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of San Diego, who asserts that he has never hidden his disagreements with Donald Trump\u2019s ideas and actions.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe president is wrong: Jesus doesn\u2019t ask us to rank our love for others,\u201d he added. He finds it an extraordinary coincidence that the first U.S. pope arrived just at the time when the United States is cornering and attacking all immigrants, not just undocumented immigrants.<\/span><\/p>\n

Making a difference<\/b><\/h3>\n

The presence of religious leaders in those places made \u201ca huge difference in how immigrants are treated by authorities in the United States,\u201d Pham said. \u201cThank God, they were accompanying immigrants in the courts and looking out for the undocumented.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It was a way to show that \u201cGod is with us\u201d and that \u201cHe never abandons us.\u201d \u201cWe are all members of the body of Christ. We all belong. No documents are needed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n