SAN DIEGO — Presence has enormous power.
Power to make someone feel human. Power to bear witness. Power to bring God’s warm love into a cold courthouse.
The ministry that accompanies undocumented immigrants to their hearings and ICE check-ins at the downtown federal courthouse marks its first year in August.
In that time, clergy members and volunteers have prayed with countless migrants, comforted family members whose loved ones were detained, and raised awareness to what is unfolding daily as the federal government wages a massive deportation campaign.
In 2024, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents detained around 600 undocumented immigrants in the San Diego-Imperial Valley region. In 2025, they detained 8,300, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune.
The ministry, known as FAITH (Faithful Accompaniment in Trust and Hope), is a collaborative effort of the Catholic Diocese of San Diego, under the leadership of Bishop Michael Pham; Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Barrio Logan; and the San Diego Organizing Project.
‘Traumatic and awful’
A total of 713 people have received training to serve as FAITH volunteers, 162 of them members of the clergy, as of July 14. They include 51 Catholic priests, 24 deacons and 13 religious women. Clergy from other faith
