Latest news with #BishopMichaelPham
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
San Diego clergy visit federal immigration court to bear witness during crackdown on migrants
SAN DIEGO (AP) — About a dozen religious leaders from the San Diego area visited federal immigration court Friday to serve as witnesses to 'what goes down' as some cases arising from the Trump administration's migration crackdown are heard, an organizer said. Some migrants have been arrested at the court by federal immigration officers. The Rev. Scott Santarosa, a Jesuit priest who was lead organizer of the group, said the purpose of the visitation 'is more than anything just to provide some sense of presence.' 'People are longing for people of faith to walk with vulnerable migrants,' added Santarosa, the pastor of San Diego's Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. 'Our goal is not trying to prevent arrests — but we can witness it.' The visit was preceded by a Mass at San Diego's Catholic Cathedral with bishops and other clergy — including Bishop Michael Pham, the top-ranking official in the group and one of the first bishops to be appointed by Pope Leo XIV after his election as pontiff — offering prayers for refugees and migrants on World Refugee Day. Pham himself is a refugee; he came to the United States unaccompanied as a boy from Vietnam. The idea for the court visit started during a diocese-wide call to plan events for World Refugee Day, in addition to each church holding a Mass to pray for migrants and refugees, Santarosa said. The priest said he hopes that visiting the court helps migrant communities — both more recent arrivals and those without legal status to be in the country who have lived in the San Diego area for decades. 'They're feeling like people just want them to disappear,' Santarosa said, adding that a woman told him, in Spanish: 'Father, we feel as if we were hunted, as if we were animals.' ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Al Arabiya
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
San Diego Clergy Visit Federal Immigration Court to Bear Witness During Crackdown on Migrants
About a dozen religious leaders from the San Diego area visited federal immigration court Friday to serve as witnesses to what goes down as some cases arising from the Trump administration's migration crackdown are heard, an organizer said. Some migrants have been arrested at the court by federal immigration officers. The Rev. Scott Santarosa, a Jesuit priest who was lead organizer of the group, said the purpose of the visitation 'is more than anything just to provide some sense of presence.' 'People are longing for people of faith to walk with vulnerable migrants,' added Santarosa, the pastor of San Diego's Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. 'Our goal is not trying to prevent arrests – but we can witness it.' The visit was preceded by a Mass at San Diego's Catholic Cathedral with bishops and other clergy – including Bishop Michael Pham, the top-ranking official in the group and one of the first bishops to be appointed by Pope Leo XIV after his election as pontiff – offering prayers for refugees and migrants on World Refugee Day. Pham himself is a refugee; he came to the US unaccompanied as a boy from Vietnam. The idea for the court visit started during a diocese-wide call to plan events for World Refugee Day, in addition to each church holding a Mass to pray for migrants and refugees, Santarosa said. The priest said he hopes that visiting the court helps migrant communities – both more recent arrivals and those without legal status to be in the country who have lived in the San Diego area for decades. 'They're feeling like people just want them to disappear,' Santarosa said, adding that a woman told him in Spanish: 'Father, we feel as if we were hunted, as if we were animals.'
The Independent
7 hours ago
- Politics
- The Independent
San Diego clergy visit federal immigration court to bear witness during crackdown on migrants
About a dozen religious leaders from the San Diego area visited federal immigration court Friday to serve as witnesses to 'what goes down' as some cases arising from the Trump administration's migration crackdown are heard, an organizer said. Some migrants have been arrested at the court by federal immigration officers. The Rev. Scott Santarosa, a Jesuit priest who was lead organizer of the group, said the purpose of the visitation 'is more than anything just to provide some sense of presence.' ' People are longing for people of faith to walk with vulnerable migrants,' added Santarosa, the pastor of San Diego's Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. 'Our goal is not trying to prevent arrests — but we can witness it.' The visit was preceded by a Mass at San Diego's Catholic Cathedral with bishops and other clergy — including Bishop Michael Pham, the top-ranking official in the group and one of the first bishops to be appointed by Pope Leo XIV after his election as pontiff — offering prayers for refugees and migrants on World Refugee Day. Pham himself is a refugee; he came to the United States unaccompanied as a boy from Vietnam. The idea for the court visit started during a diocese-wide call to plan events for World Refugee Day, in addition to each church holding a Mass to pray for migrants and refugees, Santarosa said. The priest said he hopes that visiting the court helps migrant communities — both more recent arrivals and those without legal status to be in the country who have lived in the San Diego area for decades. 'They're feeling like people just want them to disappear,' Santarosa said, adding that a woman told him, in Spanish: 'Father, we feel as if we were hunted, as if we were animals.' ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Associated Press
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Associated Press
San Diego clergy visit federal immigration court to bear witness during crackdown on migrants
SAN DIEGO (AP) — About a dozen religious leaders from the San Diego area visited federal immigration court Friday to serve as witnesses to 'what goes down' as some cases arising from the Trump administration's migration crackdown are heard, an organizer said. Some migrants have been arrested at the court by federal immigration officers. The Rev. Scott Santarosa, a Jesuit priest who was lead organizer of the group, said the purpose of the visitation 'is more than anything just to provide some sense of presence.' 'People are longing for people of faith to walk with vulnerable migrants,' added Santarosa, the pastor of San Diego's Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. 'Our goal is not trying to prevent arrests — but we can witness it.' The visit was preceded by a Mass at San Diego's Catholic Cathedral with bishops and other clergy — including Bishop Michael Pham, the top-ranking official in the group and one of the first bishops to be appointed by Pope Leo XIV after his election as pontiff — offering prayers for refugees and migrants on World Refugee Day. Pham himself is a refugee; he came to the United States unaccompanied as a boy from Vietnam. The idea for the court visit started during a diocese-wide call to plan events for World Refugee Day, in addition to each church holding a Mass to pray for migrants and refugees, Santarosa said. The priest said he hopes that visiting the court helps migrant communities — both more recent arrivals and those without legal status to be in the country who have lived in the San Diego area for decades. 'They're feeling like people just want them to disappear,' Santarosa said, adding that a woman told him, in Spanish: 'Father, we feel as if we were hunted, as if we were animals.' ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Daily Mail
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Bishop appointed by Pope Leo calls for ICE to stop deportations
A bishop appointed by Pope Leo descended on a California court today with a dozen other priests and faith leaders in an attempt to persuade ICE against deporting migrants. Newly-appointed Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of San Diego, Michael Pham made an appeal on June 11, asking fellow men of the cloth to join migrants at hearings at the federal courthouse on June 20, International Refugee Day. Friday, he was among 16 who went to the Southern California federal courthouse to support the migrants in the US legally who were pleading their cases. In his appeal, Pham said the migrants were in a 'difficult predicament' of being hauled before judges. 'We know that migrants and refugees find themselves in the difficult predicament of being called to appear, which is what the government asks of them, and then being given orders for expedited removal from our country. 'It has been experienced that the presence of faith leaders makes a difference in how the migrants are treated. 'Unfortunately, it will most likely not change the outcome,' he said. A spokesman for the Diocese of San Diego told Daily Mail the religious delegation who sat in court on Friday were not there to confront anyone and had informed judges of their presence ahead of time. It's unclear what impact they had. Dramatic and emotional scenes have played out in courts across the country where migrants who went from legal to illegal in seconds are taken away. In situations where a parent will be deported, their American kids can either be removed from the US along with them or stay behind with family in the US. The migrants most at risk for being caught up in this legal catch-22 are those who have arrived in country in the last two years. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has jurisdiction of new cases for two years. When those migrants are arriving in court, Trump federal prosecutors will inform the judge that they want to dismiss the case. However, that doesn't mean the legal claim can forward. Instead, it means the case is out of the hands of the court and ICE now has jurisdiction to make an arrest. Priests and churches across the country have spoken out against Trump's deportation policies. In Los Angeles, priests stood shoulder to shoulder with anti-ICE protestors as riots exploded earlier this month. When Trump first won re-election, the United Methodist Church issued a blistering rebuke of the president-elect two days after his victory. 'The lessons of teach us the dangers of silence in the face of threats to human rights,' the Council of Bishops wrote on Nov. 7. 'We therefore reject rhetoric, policies, and actions that demean or discriminate against any of God's children and will be vigilant in defending the rights of the vulnerable and speaking out against oppression.'
