The Diocese of San Bernardino offers immigration resources, from citizenship courses and “Know Your Rights” trainings, to legal workshops and English as a second language classes. Officials have close relationships with Guatemalan, Salvadoran and Mexican consulates to help people process citizenship applications and obtain legal documentation, said Wilfredo Aguirre, who works with the Office of Justice for Immigrants.

Having these faith-based resources — especially through the local church, a place people can trust — is crucial for those in need, Aguirre said.

“The teaching of the church is that we protect life from conception to natural death, and we advocate for every aspect of human life, created in the image of God. When we round up people indignantly, as if they were cattle — or describe them as collaterals, criminals or rapists — we are denying their dignity. And that’s what we, at the church, are trying to fight,” Aguirre said.

“At the heart of all this is our Christian value, the idea of hope,” said Aguirre. “We are a religion, a faith, a people of hope.”

Community organizer Beatriz, who asked not to publish her last name due to immigration safety concerns, works with Inland Congregations United for Change, a nonprofit made up of over 60 faith congregations serving the Inland Valley. She said that, though growing ICE operations across the Southland have stoked fear in communities, it’s also sparked compassion in action.

“People of faith in our network are feeling compassion for those being taken by ICE,” she said in Spanish.

“Our brothers and sisters are hard-working people with dignity. They’re business owners and essential workers. But before all of that, they are brothers and sisters created in the image of God, and they are deserving of life, dignity and respect,” Beatriz said.

Luz Gallegos, the executive director of TODEC Legal Center, works directly with Latino immigrant communities across the Inland region, hosting Know Your Rights workshops and participating in rallies. She said that Latinos are a “resilient people of faith. “

“A lot of workers tell us before they leave for work, they pray to Jesus, asking him to take care of them and their families, and even their neighbors,” she said. “Faith brings a lot of strength within our community.”

Gallegos emphasized the importance of taking actions to protect oneself and neighbors, while also staying faithful in prayer.

“During these difficult times, we can’t rely on faith on its own,” she said. “We have to know preventive measures and actions to keep us and our families safe.”

pulpits to front lines

The work of faith leaders, said Pastor Lee de León of Templo Calvario Church in Santa Ana, is to advocate for the well-being of all congregants, regardless of legal status, and to work with leadership “to ensure the safety of the most vulnerable of our community.”

“As faith leaders, God’s call to us is to work for the peace and prosperity of our city. When that is being destroyed or challenged, we must speak up,” de León said.

“As people of faith, we are called upon to love your neighbor as yourself, regardless of where they come from, and we are to welcome the stranger,” said the Rev. Karen Davis, pastor of First Christian Church in Glendora and a member of the Glendora City Council.

“Joseph, Mary and Jesus themselves were refugees fleeing into Egypt, and with that in mind, we are to offer compassion, kindness and allow for due process,” said Davis, who also serves as chaplain of the city’s police department. “As people of faith, we are to stand with and speak up for ‘the least of these.’”

For Hussam Ayloush, the fight for immigrant rights hits home. He said activism is a “mandate” of his beliefs.

“The Quran says that God bestowed dignity to all human beings. Justice and seeking justice for all people is a core tenet in Islamic faith,” Ayloush said.

“When I see Brown and Black people being attacked, whether in L.A. being beaten up or being banned from coming to this country, I see people who look like me, who look like my wife and my children,” Ayloush said. “Our country was built on the foundation of liberty and justice for all people, but as U.S. history shows, we haven’t always been true to those values.”

In his most recent Sunday sermon, the Rev. Christopher Montella of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Santa Clarita talked about honoring the dignity of all people, regardless of status. He urged his congregation to remove all judgment, fear and hate.

“Is our immigration and asylum-seeking process broken? Yes. Is the answer to just scoop up all those who might be undocumented residents and ship them out to detention camps? No,” Montella said. “If we are truly going to live into the truth of the Spirit, then we must do better. We must be better as a society.”

L.A. United Methodist Church Bishop Dottie Escobedo-Frank said she was “brokenhearted” by the uptick in ICE activity, and called on “all Christ-following people, and on all tenderhearted people, to stand with those who are being ripped apart from their families… be witnesses on the streets so that the horror does not happen under cover. Pray for justice to prevail, because we all know that without justice, there is no peace. Use your power for good, and not for evil.”

As anti-ICE raid protests continue to spread, leaders nationally have shared messages of solidarity.

Zach Lambert, lead pastor at Restore Church in Austin, Texas, has been closely following the immigration enforcement operations and protests in L.A., noting that his church is home to a significant Latino population, as well as many LGBTQ+ congregants.

With “very real fears” among the community, his message to all is to “consider the words Jesus spoke during his Sermon on the Mount: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.’ ” He noted the difference from “peacekeepers,” from those looking the other way when injustice happens.

Peacemakers, on the other hand, “step into situations courageously to make a Christlike difference,” he said.

“We are never more like God than when we are peacemaking,” said Lambert, noting examples of clergy during the Civil Rights movement, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who stepped into tangible leadership roles. In times of unrest, Lambert said, churches need to adopt a message of solidarity, and people need to “develop an imagination for how to become a peacemaker.”

Staff writers Anissa Rivera, Kristy Hutchings and The Associated Press contributed to this report.