CA Catholic Bishops Hold Mass For ICE Detainees In IE: 'You Are Not Alone'

ADELANTO, CA — Seven Catholic bishops from all over California held mass at an immigration detention center in the Inland Empire on Wednesday afternoon.

The bishops' appearance came as a show of "pastoral support and solidarity with immigrants brothers targeted by federal enforcement actions," according to the Diocese of San Bernardino.

Bishop Alberto Rojas served as the chief celebrant of the mass at the Adelanto Immigration Detention Center. He was joined by Bishop Emeritus Gerald Barnes and San Jose Bishop Oscar Cantù, among the other bishops.

“You are not alone," Bishop Rojas told detainees at the start of mass. "We support you and we pray for you.”

The facility has come under scrutiny from groups like Disability Rights California (DRC). When the organization visited the site in June, they reported that detainees shouted at them in Spanish that they were being treated like dogs in cages.

The for profit detention center is owned and operated by GEO Group, Inc., a company that ICE contracts with to provide custody services.

Based on the conditions DRC said it observed, its interviews with detention center leadership and detainees themselves, the group says the center is subjecting people with disabilities to abuse and neglect. Read the full report, published in July, here.

In July, Bishop Rojas of San Bernardino issued a decree excusing those at risk of deportation from the Catholic obligation to attend Sunday mass. The move came after ICE officers reportedly entered two Catholic churches and detained parishioners in June.

The IE bishop had written a letter to political leaders in June asking them to cease tactics in lieu of an approach that "respects human rights and dignity."

"It should be no surprise that this is creating a tremendous amount of fear, confusion and anxiety for many," Bishop Rojas wrote. "It is not of the Gospel of Jesus Christ – which guides us in all that we do."