Dozens of Catholics gathered in the shadow of San Diego’s federal courthouse Wednesday morning. They sang and waved palm branches, before laying them down a path migrants would later walk inside.
It was a Holy Week reenactment of how Jesus was welcomed into Jerusalem, where he faced trial before being crucified.
They wanted to show migrants the same reverence as they entered their place of judgment.
Sister Francina Vivier volunteers accompanying migrants to their immigration hearings and interviews.
Many migrants come alone, without legal representation or family, she said. Often, they speak limited English.
“All the terminology, all the jargon — people are afraid because they've received a letter, they don't know what it means,” she said.
She said going in with them to the courtroom wasn't an issue with staff.
“It’s supposed to be open to the public. So in August, I would go up and I would tell them that I was here to be, to observe, just to sit in the back court. And that was very — it was very easily done,” she said.
But she said restrictions have tightened in recent weeks. She’s been asked to wait outside the courtroom, sometimes for half an hour.
And on the second floor, where interviews and detentions take place, “They've put up a sign there that says, ‘No loitering.’ Again, two weeks ago, I was asked to leave, and if I didn't, I would be escorted out by federal police,” she said.
She said one volunteer received a citation for standing and praying for migrants.
Wednesday morning, Bishop Michael Pham reaffirmed the church’s commitment to continue coming anyway.
“Despite these challenges, we are here today to publicly proclaim that we are not going away,” he said. “We are not afraid. We will not be intimidated to stop doing what we do.”
Together, the crowd prayed for the migrants: that they would receive necessary medications and wouldn’t die in detention; that they would be given adequate food and humane treatment; that families would not be forced into deeper hardship after losing jobs and wages; that no one would stand alone.
“We are here, amen?” he called out.
“Amen,” the crowd responded.
The Executive Office for Immigration Review did not immediately answer KPBS’s questions about the restrictions.
In February, Reverend Scott Santarosa of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish sent a letter requesting a meeting with Judge Catherine Halliday-Roberts, the acting assistant chief immigration judge in San Diego, and the court administration. He said he never heard back.
