Hundreds took to the streets of downtown San Diego on Saturday as part of an interfaith prayer service and procession that organizers called a collective show of support for immigrants, the elderly and the poor. “What I hope to accomplish today is to remind ourselves in this era of cuts, in this e ra of threats of deportation and building a budget for deportation, to remind ourselves of our value,” said the Rev. Scott Santarosa, pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church. “That we have dignity, that we’re not alone and we stand together.” Spearheaded by the San Diego County Catholic Diocese, the service began at the San Diego County Administration Center on Pacific Highway with remarks from local faith leaders of multiple denominations — many of them speaking out against the Trump administration’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants. “We are all immigrants in one way or another,” said Imam Taha Hassane of the Islamic Center of San Diego. “What’s happening to immigrants at this moment, separating families, is wrong.” Participants walked from the county administration building, then moved east on Broadway before finishing in front of the Edward J. Schwartz Federal Building off of Front Street. The crowd, which took up almost three city blocks, sang hymns and secular songs during the procession. Some waved homemade signs, with placards reading, “We stand with immigrants,” “See God in all people” and “Amnesty yes, deportations no.” With the event coming on the eve of Palm Sunday, many waved palm fronds. The procession was peaceful and there were no counter-demonstrations. Auxiliary Bishop Ramon Bejarano spoke in front of the federal courthouse. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune) Near the conclusion of the event, the auxiliary bishop of the Catholic Diocese of San Diego had some harsh words for the Trump administration. “Change the hearts of those in our government who are causing so much fear and terror among our people and families they’re seeking to destroy,” said Auxiliary Bishop Ramón Bejarano while leading the crowd in prayer. “Help them to know your love, which teach us to treat each other as we would like to be treated.” Immigration policy has become a flashpoint between many Catholic leaders and the White House. Cardinal Robert W. McElroy, who served as the bishop of San Diego from 2015 until earlier this year when he was named archbishop of Washington, D.C., told reporters in January that mass deportations are “incompatible with Catholic doctrine.” Pope Francis has also weighed in, saying in an open letter to U.S. bishops, “What is built on the basis of force, and not on the truth about the equal dignity of every human being, begins badly and will end badly.” When asked to respond, Tom Homan, Trump’s appointed “border czar” fired back. “He wants to attack us for securing our border?” Homan, a self-described lifelong Catholic, said to reporters outside the White House on Feb. 11. “He’s got a wall around the Vatican, does he not? So he’s got a wall around to protect his people and himself but we can’t have a wall around the United States? So I wish he would stick to the Catholic Church and fix that and leave border enforcement to us.” U.S. Customs and Border Protection recorded 7,180 land migrant encounters across the Southwest in March, down 96% from the same month a year earlier. Daily apprehensions along the U.S.-Mexico border have dipped to about 230 a day. “Many, many people are here legally and are living in fear and are vulnerable to being deported,” said Bishop Susan Brown Snook of the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego. “They come here and claim asylum because they have suffered in other places and that gives them the right to follow that claim through the judicial system.” On April 1, the Trump administration told Newsweek it had deported more than 100,000 undocumented immigrants so far this year. Saturday’s procession comes as multiple immigration cases work their way through the court system. A federal judge in Washington sided with the Trump administration, allowing agents to conduct enforcement operations at houses of worship, while a federal judge in Maryland ordered the administration to provide daily updates about a man unlawfully deported to a maximum security facility in El Salvador. “Even if a person is undocumented and in the United States, we have to follow due process because the Constitution guarantees that to everybody,” said Vino Pajanor, chief executive officer of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of San Diego. “If we don’t follow due process, things like that (in El Salvador) will happen.” The Associated Press contributed to this story.  ...read more read less