Eight immigration courts line the fourth-floor hallway of the downtown Edward J. Schwartz Federal Building. On the walls: boot prints of ICE agents.
But on World Refugee Day, masked immigration agents weren’t leaning against the off-white walls, waiting to grab people. They scattered Friday after seeing a clergy delegation led by Bishop-elect Michael Pham.
“Like the story of Moses and Exodus, the Red Sea parted,” said observer Scott Reid of the immigrant-aiding San Diego Organizing Project.
Said another observer: “We’ve never seen the hallways cleared out so quickly.”
The result: Nobody was detained as immigration lawyers said would happen.
Two cases were heard Friday morning by Judge Catherine “Cate” Halliday-Roberts — a man whose case was continued and a woman whose case had been administratively closed for 20 years and reopened by the government.
Her case also was continued.
Boot prints of ICE agents are visible on hallway walls facing imigration courts. (Photo obtained by Times of San Diego)Jesuit priest Scott Santorosa, pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in San Diego, briefed camera crews and other media members who weren’t allowed into the federal building. (Several reporters entered, including me, but didn’t view the court proceedings.)
“Our presence made a difference,” Santorosa said, quoting an immigration lawyer saying their client was given more time to prepare for another hearing.
Any other day, said a local activist, two to four immigrants would be detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and taken away in vans operated by private prison CoreCivic.
In fact, at least two white vans were parked on an adjacent street with no license plates but padlocks on side doors.
Bishop Pham, himself a Vietnamese refugee as a child, said ICE agents were “standing there covered with masks as we walked toward the courtroom. Eventually the … agents kind of scattered and went away. No wonder people come in fear.”
Pham continued the mission of his predecessor, Cardinal Robert McElroy, also an outspoken advocate for immigrants before leaving to be archbishop of Washington, D.C.
Pham said a government lawyer struck up a chat in the restroom.
San Diego Bishop-Designate Michael Pham at St Joseph Cathedral downtown. (Photo by Chris Stone/Times of San Diego)Priests and the public pray at St Joseph Cathedral. (Phtoo by Chris Stone/Times of San Diego)Mass at St Joseph Cathedral in downtown San Diego. (Photo by Chris Stone/Times of San Diego)People pray at St Joseph Cathedral in downtown San Diego. (Photo by Chris Stone/Times of San Diego)People pray at St Joseph Cathedral in downtown San Diego. (Photo by Chris Stone/Times of San Diego)San Diego Bishop-Designate Michael Pham. (Photo by Chris Stone/Times of San Diego)San Diego Bishop-Designate Michael Pham celebrates Mass. (Photo by Chris Stone/Times of San Diego)People are asked to volunteer to support immigrants. (Photo by Chris Stone/Times of San Diego)A Mass was held before the visit to the Edward J Schwartz Federal Building. (Photo by Chris Stone/Times of San Diego)People enter the Edward J Schwartz Federal Building where immigration court is. (Photo by Chris Stone/Times of San Diego)A woman prays the rosary outside the Edward J Schwartz Federal Building where immigration court is. (Photo by Chris Stone/Times of San Diego)Bishop-Designate Michael Pham (center) waits for an escort to the immigration court. (Photo by Chris Stone/Times of San Diego)A woman prays at St Joseph Cathedral in downtown San Diego. (Photo by Chris Stone/Times of San Diego)A man prays at St Joseph Cathedral in downtown San Diego. (Photo by Chris Stone/Times of San Diego)People pray at St Joseph Cathedral in downtown San Diego. (Photo by Chris Stone/Times of San Diego)People pray at St Joseph Cathedral in downtown San Diego. (Photo by Chris Stone/Times of San Diego)Priests listen to San Diego-Designate Michael Pham’s homily at St. Joseph Cathedral. (Photo by Chris Stone/Times of San Diego)Women pray outside the Edward J Schwartz Federal Building where immigration court is. (Photo by Chris Stone/Times of San Diego)Women pray outside the Edward J Schwartz Federal Building where immigration court is. (Photo by Chris Stone/Times of San Diego)San Diego Bishop Designate Michael Pham tells media about his visit to immigration court. (Photo by Chris Stone/Times of San Diego)San Diego Bishop Designate Michael Pham enters Edward J Schwartz Federal Building to show support in immigration court. (Photo by Chris Stone/Times of San Diego)A young man enters the Edward J Schwartz Federal Building. (Photo by Chris Stone/Times of San Diego)San Diego Bishop-Designate Michael Pham (center) waits to enter the Edward J Schwartz Federal Building on World Refugee Day. (Photo by Chris Stone/Times of San Diego)San Diego Bishop-Designate Michael Pham prays in front of the Edward J Schwartz Federal Building on World Refugee Day. (Photo by Chris Stone/Times of San Diego)San Diego Bishop-Designate Michael Pham greets Imam Taha Hassane of the Islamic Center of San Diego in front of St Joseph Cathedral. (Photo by Chris Stone/Times of San Diego)San Diego Bishop Designate Michael Pham speaks to the media in front of St Joseph Cathedral. (Photo by Chris Stone/Times of San Diego)San Diego Bishop Designate Michael Pham prays with clergy before entering the Edward J Schwartz Federal Building. (Photo by Chris Stone/Times of San Diego)“He introduced himself to me,” Pham told reporters. “He feels conflicted with the situation. He knows his morals and his values.”
The Rev. Santorosa said masked ICE agents were an intimidating presence despite the fact the federal court staff was “very accommodating.”
Immigrants, he said, “came with great fear and trepidation.”
The Rev. Manny Del Rio — of St. John of the Cross in Lemon Grove — echoed others: “It was evident that our presence made a difference. … This was one of the last peaceful times in a long time” with no immigrants being detained.
Besides clergy members and the press, at least a dozen activists (including one not attached to a group but calling herself a “rogue Catholic”), assembled outside the building and handed out sheets in English and Spanish titled “KNOW YOUR RIGHTS: ICE ARRESTS AT IMMIGRATION COURTHOUSES.”
Under “WHAT TO DO IF ARRESTED,” was this advice: “If you fear returning to your home country — say it clearly and out loud to the ICE officers (and) request a credible fear interview.”
Another sheet gave information about the group Detention Resistance, with hotline numbers to call, email address and social media pages. One woman brought a small wagon with snacks.
Pham — who celebrated Mass at St. Joseph Cathedral before hopping on a bus to the federal building — suggested that priests would return for similar “walks in solidarity” at immigration court.
Or a ministry could be started in the San Diego-Imperial Counties diocese to replicate Friday’s event. He said Santarosa would be the one to spearhead such a ministry.
“All things are possible with God,” Santarosa told Times of San Diego. “This is a need that arises. I think we could conceivably come up with a schedule where some priests could” be court witnesses and accompany immigrants.
He said he was told that ICE agents had intended to detain some immigrants Friday — and their lawyers expressed gratitude to the assembled clergy.
Pham, in a black suit, entered the courthouse at 8:45 a.m., taking his shoes off by habit (unnecessarily, it turned out) before going through the metal detector. On the way down just before 10 a.m., he let others pack an elevator before entering one himself.
After the hearings, Pham and other clergy, including Imam Taha Hassane of the Islamic Center of San Diego, formed a circle with activist observers in the first-floor lobby.
They went around describing their experience.
“This is one of the important issues today,” Pham told the gathering as cameras awaited outside. He said he prayed for “wisdom and insight to help our poor brothers … through the crises in their lives.”
A formal prayer was led by Auxiliary Bishop Ramon Bejarano, born in Texas but who spent his early life in Aldama, Chihuahua, when his family moved back to Mexico soon after his birth.
“Bless these refugees and asylum seekers,” Bejarano said, “and all those who seek opportunity.”
Since the end of May, one activist with the group Detention Resistance said he’s been a witness to detainee arrests at the San Diego courthouse.
“Anyone who’s arrived in the last two years, who does not have a child that is their dependent or doesn’t have a serious medical condition,” can be detained, said the man, who declined to be named.
“Sometimes we’ve seen them see someone’s file: ‘Oh look, they have a cancer diagnosis,’ and they let them go. But there are many people in Otay Mesa [detention facility] right now who have cancer and aren’t being released.”
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