LA archdiocese provides for fearful migrants at home

The move to support immigrant parishioners has come amid a nationwide crackdown by the Trump administration that has seen tens of thousands of arrests.

The new Family Assistance Program, supported entirely by donations, will work through the archdiocese’s 288 parishes across Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties to assist parishioners in need.

Archdiocese spokesperson Yannina Diaz said many churches were reactivating or expanding delivery systems that were built during the Covid-19 pandemic to reach homebound and elderly members.

“We’re tapping into what already exists and what already works,” she told the Los Angeles Times.

“This is a challenging moment for our community,” Los Angeles Archbishop José Gómez said.

“Many of our friends and family, our neighbours and fellow parishioners, are afraid and anxious. These are good, hard-working men and women, people of faith, people who have been in this country for a long time and are making important contributions to our economy.

“Now they are afraid to go to work or be seen in public for fear that they will get arrested and be deported.”

The archdiocesan initiative was designed to “help our brothers and sisters in this difficult moment”, he added.

Many donors have already stepped forward: the businessman and former mayoral candidate Rick Caruso gave US$50,000 and pledged to match an additional US$50,000. The Catholic Association for Latino Leadership added US$10,000, and Vallarta Supermarkets contributed another US$10,000 in the form of gift cards.

Since June, Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the US has arrested nearly 3000 people in Los Angeles. Many of those detained had no criminal history, and some included citizens or lawful residents who were mistakenly apprehended.

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LA archdiocese to deliver food and medication to parishioners homebound due to Ice raids | Los Angeles | The Guardian (By Marina Dunbar/The Guardian)