Archbishop José Gomez has launched a program Wednesday to offer aid to families who have been impacted by immigration enforcement raids across Southern California.
The Family Assistance Program will administer aid directly to individual parishes throughout the Archdiocese of Los Angeles as they work to provide groceries, meals and prescription deliveries to those affected.
“There are, in many of our parishes, the number of people coming is less than it was before because they are afraid,” Gomez told NBC Los Angeles. “They are afraid to go to the grocery store. They are afraid to go to church. They are afraid to go out because they don’t know what is gonna happen.”
The program enables ongoing assistance and direct support to support its over 200 parishes in their work to distribute aid in the “most effective and compassionate way possible,” Chief Development Officer Catherine Fraser said. The assistance will vary by parish.
With grassroots fundraising happening in every parish, Fraser estimates the program has raised well over $100,000.
Businessman Rick Caruso joined Gomez at St. Patrick’s Church to announce a $50,000 donation to the fund, emphasizing his support of a path to citizenship and comprehensive immigration reform.
The Beverly Hills Teddy Bear Company has also donated toys for the children, and Vallarta Supermarkets has contributed 10,000 grocery gift cards.
Those in need of assistance can contact their local parish, or find a parish by zip code on LA Catholics’ website, regardless of their religious traditions. Donations to the program can also be made online.
“We cannot just pass by and notice when people are in distress,” said Fr. Timothy Dyer, pastor at St. Patrick’s.
Gomez said the federal government’s raids are challenging the “city’s historic identity and the church’s religious mission,” and called for federal immigration reform.
He added that the diocese is expecting raids in its parishes and schools.
The recent immigration enforcement operations in Los Angeles and other parts of Southern California are part of President Trump’s campaign promise to carry out a mass deportation plan.
The administration has highlighted arrests involving undocumented individuals with violent crime convictions. Those who have been caught up in the nationwide raids include asylum seekers, people who overstayed their visas and migrants awaiting their day in immigration court.
“It’s very painful and very sad that they cannot come to church on Sundays because this is what gives them the strength to continue in their families in the way they do things in their daily lives,” Gomez said.
In June, the archbishop publicly criticized the Trump administration’s aggressive policy, calling for a new conversation around immigration.
California is home to 10.6 million immigrants, more than any other state, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. More than 2.6 million undocumented immigrants live in California, according to a 2024 Department of Homeland Security report that relied on data from 2022. The figure is likely higher.
Most of the state’s immigrant population is in large coastal counties, like Los Angeles County, where about 3.5 million people – or about 35 percent of the county’s population – are immigrants, according to the 2024 State of Immigrants in Los Angeles County report from the USC Dornsife research institute.
There are about 809,000 undocumented immigrants in Los Angeles County, which has a population of 9.6 million, according to the report.
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles spans Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, covering 8,762 square miles of Southern California. There are parishes located in 120 cities throughout Los Angeles.