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The magnificent Shrine of the Sacred Heart, a Catholic church just a short distance away white HouseIt was intended to be a sanctuary for worshippers. Now, much of its immigrant congregation is mired in fear.
Church leaders say more than 40 members of their parish have been detained, deported or both since federal law enforcement increased their deployment in August.
Many parishioners are afraid to even leave the house to attend MassBuy food or seek medical care as the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown targets their communities.
Cardinal Robert McElroy, who leads the Archdiocese of Washington, said the government is using fear to deprive immigrants of “any sense of real peace or security.”
“It’s really a tool of terror,” he told The Associated Press.
Trump’s federal law enforcement mandate technically ended on September 10. But National Guard Soldiers and federal agents remain in the nation’s capital. That includes immigration officials who continue to swarm near Sacred Heart, which sits in a vibrant Latino community surrounded by two neighborhoods — Columbia Heights and Mount Pleasant — that have been home to successive waves of immigrants.
The parish was established more than 100 years ago by Irish, Italian and German immigrants. Today, most of its 5,600 members come from El SalvadorBut also from Haiti, Brazil and Vietnam.
Immigration raids have affected life and worship at Sacred Heart. Families are mourning the disappearance of their loved ones. Attendance at mass events, which are conducted in multiple languages, has dropped dramatically, reflected in the many empty benches beneath the colorful mosaics of the domed church.
“About half the people are afraid to come,” said the Rev. Emilio Biosca, the church’s pastor.
But the church community refuses to be reduced to powerless victims. During the crisis, pastors and church volunteers attended immigration court hearings, paid rent and legal fees, and donated and distributed food to people afraid to leave home.
“Our role here in the church has changed dramatically,” Bioska said. “Because we have so many people who are adversely affected by that situation, we can’t possibly conduct business as usual.”
Active church volunteers face deportation
On a recent day, parishioners dedicated a rosary to detained and deported church members. They pray daily on Zoom because many people are afraid to leave their homes.
Among them was a woman who has not returned to church since last month, when US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials detained her husband while the couple sold fruits and vegetables from a cart, their main source of income.
They entered the United States illegally nearly two decades ago to escape gang violence in El Salvador. They met at Sacred Heart, where they have both been active volunteers, often leading retreats and programs. For years, her husband helped coordinate popular Holy Week processions.
When her husband was detained, the first thing the woman did was call her pastor. Since then, the church has helped pay his rent. She is now preparing to move to Boston with family members as her husband faces deportation from a Louisiana detention center. Barring some unexpected changes that would allow her to remain in the US, she plans to move back to El Salvador to be with him.
“It has been a very difficult, bitter month of crying and suffering,” she said, speaking on condition of anonymity out of fear she could be deported. “Our lives changed from one day to the next. We had so many dreams.”
In her apartment, she held rosary beads around the cardboard boxes she was packing with her belongings. On her table near the makeshift altar of the Virgin Mary, she keeps a prayer card of Pope Leo XIV, who has vowed to “stand” with the migrants.
When someone on the Zoom puja read out one of the names from the long list of those detained, she panicked and whispered sadly: “He is my husband.” Above it hung a framed photograph of the couple, smiling happily on their wedding day at Sacred Heart.
Catholic Church supports immigrants
A top archdiocesan leader, Auxiliary Bishop Evelio Menjivar, entered the United States illegally in 1990 after fleeing El Salvador. His journey up the church hierarchy – after working odd jobs and gaining asylum and then American citizenship – has made him an important symbol for Catholic immigrants to the region.
“That could have been me, you know,” Menjivar said of recent ICE detentions.
He recently helped lead a march in support of immigrants and refugees that started at Sacred Heart.
He said the parish feels like home to him. “It holds a very special place not only for me, but for many immigrants.”
The Catholic Church strongly protects the rights of migrants, even as it recognizes the rights of nations to control their own borders. American Catholics rely on foreign-born priests to serve parishes. In the Washington Archdiocese, which includes DC and parts of Maryland, more than 40% of parishioners are Latino.
Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said via email that “DHS law enforcement in Washington, DC is targeting the worst violent criminal aliens.”
Sacred Heart pastor Biaska thought the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement would target violent criminals. But then, he said, they started going after his group.
“It became very unbearable,” he said, adding that the targets seemed like someone who “just looked Hispanic.”
At Sacred Heart School, Principal Elias Blanco said at least two families took their children back because they did not want to risk being detained when dropping them off.
“Our parents are obviously very scared,” he said.
Many of the children at the school are American citizens whose parents are in the country illegally. If they are granted custody, some parents have signed caregiver affidavits, designating a legal guardian, in hopes that their children will stay out of foster care.
“It’s like a ripple effect,” Blanco said of immigration detentions. “It could be one person, but that person is someone’s father, someone’s husband, brother and then it impacts the entire family.”
Pastor joins immigrants in court
Church leaders have accompanied congregants to immigration court, where in cities across the country, masked ICE officers have arrested immigrants as they walked out of hearings.
The Rev. Carlos Reyes, a Sacred Heart pastor originally from El Salvador, attended the hearing with a 20-year-old congregant who had recently arrived in the U.S. illegally from Bolivia.
Thanks to the support of Reyes and Sacred Heart, she said her hope and her Catholic faith have deepened.
Crying after Sunday Mass, she said, “This is a refuge for me because I have everything here, because I have no one.” He spoke on condition of anonymity because he has another court hearing coming up soon and fears deportation.
Parishioners deliver goods to hidden people
On a recent Saturday, volunteers gathered in the church basement. Before packing bags of donated food, they formed a circle to pray.
They then made deliveries to immigrant congregants who had not left their homes for several weeks, not even to buy groceries. Some recipients came out to thank the volunteers, and carefully looked around for ICE personnel.
“These people are losing their dignity,” said one congregant who helped deliver the food and is a legal US resident. She spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing her U.S. citizenship process could still be disrupted.
“As God’s people, we can’t just sit back and watch,” he said. “We have to do what we can.”
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Associated Press video journalist Jesse Warderski contributed to this report.
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Associated Press religion coverage is supported by the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from the Lilly Endowment Inc. AP is solely responsible for this content.