SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – The fallout from last Friday’s incident in South Park is being felt in Logan Heights.
"I would characterize the sentiment among parishioners, really since January 20th, is one where the fear ebbs and flows,” Father Scott Santarosa of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish said. "When something happens like what happened at Buona Forchetta, the raid, the fear spikes."
Santarosa told ABC 10News that his church has been on its toes since before the Buona Forchetta immigration raid. But that feeling has been ratcheted up.
"I was fairly certain that nothing would happen at our church ever until the recent raids nearby, which has made me think it could in fact happen here,” Santarosa said.
Santarosa's church was once a shelter for undocumented migrants.
Recently, the Logan Heights parish joined the legal fight to reestablish protections for certain areas, like churche,s against immigration enforcement.
The priest told ABC 10News he and his church are creating a plan in the event immigration enforcement comes knocking on their doors.
"I'm not naive to say, 'We're just going to continue on our merry way and let God and Our Lady of Guadalupe protect us,' without doing our part,” Santarosa said. “We want to do it in a way where we don't elevate the level of fear, and we also just want to be responsible."
ABC 10News has reached out to Immigration and Customs Enforcement multiple times regarding their operation in South Park last Friday. At this point, we still haven't received a response.
"That is my hope that people will wake up and say that's not the country we claim to be,” Santarosa said.
ABC 10News reached out to the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego regarding the Buona Forchetta incident and what messages it has given to parishes following the removal of sensitive locations.
Kevin Eckery, spokesperson for the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego, sent ABC 10News the following statement:
“Catholic teaching tells us that all countries have the right to protect their borders and regulate the flow of people and goods into their country. Catholic teaching also reminds us, however, that we have a responsibility to treat people with dignity, to follow the law, and to avoid causing a spectacle that has little to do with law enforcement and a lot to do with intimidation and disrespect. There are better and more effective ways of enforcing the law than what we saw in South Park the other day; I hope federal authorities keep this in mind in the future.”
