The archdiocese of Los Angeles is launching a new initiative to provide essentials such as hot meals, groceries, and prescription medications to people and families too afraid to leave their homes due to immigration raids.
The move to support immigrant parishioners experiencing heightened fear amid a nationwide crackdown by the Trump administration that has seen tens of thousands of arrests and outraged civil liberties groups.
“This is a challenging moment for our community,” Archbishop José H Gómez said in a statement. “Many of our friends and family, our neighbors 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. This new archdiocesan fund is designed to help our brothers and sisters in this difficult moment,” Gomez said.
The newly created 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. Contributions can be made on the website or at any parish, with funds directed toward communities identified as especially at risk.
Many donors have already stepped forward: businessman and former mayoral candidate Rick Caruso gave $50,000 and pledged to match an additional $50,000. The Catholic Association for Latino Leadership added $10,000, and Vallarta Supermarkets contributed another $10,000 in the form of gift cards.
According to archdiocese spokesperson Yannina Diaz, many churches are 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,” Diaz told the Los Angeles Times.
Since June, Ice has arrested nearly 3,000 people in Los Angeles. Many of those detained had no criminal history, and some included citizens or lawful residents who were mistakenly apprehended.
after newsletter promotion
Given the large number of immigrants within the Catholic community in the greater Los Angeles area, the archdiocese is feeling the brunt of the enforcement efforts. Nationally, 30% of foreign-born Christians in the US identify as Catholic, according to Pew Research Center data, the largest share among Christian denominations.
In Los Angeles, 28% of all Christians are Catholic, making it by far the most popular religion.
The archdiocese’s announcement comes about two weeks after Alberto Rojas, the San Bernardino bishop who leads more than 1.5 million Catholics in southern California, has formally excused parishioners from their weekly obligation to attend mass following immigration detentions on two parish properties in the diocese.
