This has been a challenging summer with the federal enforcement initiatives aimed at our immigrant communities.
Although the most extreme of these initiatives have been halted temporarily by a court order, there is still a climate of fear and uncertainty throughout our parishes and neighborhoods.
Last week, we announced a new archdiocesan program to support our immigrant neighbors who are suffering financial hardship.
We made our announcement at a press conference held at St. Patrick Church near downtown Los Angeles.
St. Patrick was established at the beginning of the last century to serve families who came from Germany and Ireland. Today, it is the spiritual home for families who come mostly from Mexico and countries in Latin America.
And in many ways, the history of this small church reflects the history of Los Angeles, which has been a city of immigrants from the beginning.
Catholic missionaries founded Los Angeles in 1781, and LA’s first families included Native Americans, Africans, Europeans, and Asians from the Pacific Islands.
In the 250 years since then, Los Angeles has been a city of welcome, generously opening its doors to migrants and refugees from every part of the world. This diversity of cultures, traditions, experiences, and languages is what gives this city its unique character and creative energy.
Catholic churches like St. Patrick are the living heart of the city’s hospitality to newly arrived Angelenos.
Our churches support immigrants in many ways. We try to give them the help they need to make a new home for their families and to use their skills and talents to build up this great nation.
This history matters because the federal government’s immigration raids this summer are challenging our city’s historic identity and the Church’s religious mission.
Many of those being targeted are our friends and family, our neighbors and fellow parishioners.
These are good, hardworking 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.
I’ve said this before: This situation is not worthy of a great nation.
We have been working with Mayor Karen Bass and city officials to find a practical, peaceful solution to the situation with the federal authorities. And we are urging our elected officials in Washington to fix our country’s broken immigration system. We will continue these efforts.
But we also need to help our brothers and sisters in this difficult moment.
So with the support of some generous members of our Catholic faith community, we have created our new Family Assistance Program.
This program is intended to support the many outreach ministries already being carried out in our parishes to provide meals, groceries, and other essentials to families in need.
If you or someone you know needs assistance, I encourage you to contact your local parish and ask about the program. I also encourage those who are able to make a contribution to this program, which is such a beautiful sign of our solidarity as one family of God.
But I must emphasize again: What we really need right now is immigration reform at the federal level.
Congress and the White House need to work together, make compromises, and fix this broken system, which is causing so much heartache and suffering for ordinary people.
There are several encouraging proposals in the House and the Senate that could serve to start the new conversation on immigration that we need in our country.
As I’ve said before, I believe immigration reform needs to start with making basic distinctions among those who are in this country without proper authorization.
In Los Angeles and across the country, many of our undocumented brothers and sisters have been living here for a decade or more; they are working hard to raise their families. As generations of immigrants before them have done, they are sacrificing so that their children can have a better life.
There are many others who were brought to this country as infants and children and, because their parents are undocumented, they are denied access to opportunities to lead an ordinary life.
Any just reform of our immigration system must find a way to normalize and hopefully legalize the status of these categories of immigrants. They should be given the chance to become full participating members of our society.
Pray for me and I will pray for you.
And let us ask our Blessed Mother Mary to give us generous and courageous hearts to stand together with our immigrant brothers and sisters and renew Los Angeles as a city of welcome.
