SAN DIEGO — Even before he was installed as bishop of the Diocese of San Diego, Bishop Michael Pham was standing with immigrants. Whether leading prayerful processions through city streets, meeting with public officials, or listening in immigration court, his message has been the same.
“We must treat everyone with dignity and respect. We are one human family,” he said on June 20, 2025, during a prayer service on World Refugee Day, about a month before becoming the diocese’s seventh bishop. “We stand in solidarity with refugees and immigrants. We are all God’s children.”
After the service at St. Joseph Cathedral, he and about a dozen clergy members, deacons, religious men and women and other faith leaders traveled to the federal courthouse. Inside, they observed several immigration court hearings.
At the time, masked, heavily armed immigration agents often waited outside the courtrooms, arresting immigrants even if judges had continued their cases. The arrests are part of a massive deportation campaign being waged nationwide.
The clergy’s presence made an impact, however, and no arrests were observed during their 90-minute stay at the courthouse.
The visit would help lay the groundwork for a ministry Bishop Pham officially launched nearly two months later, on Aug. 4, 2025, enabling clergy and other volunteers to accompany immigrants to their immigration hearings, in collaboration with Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish and the San Diego Organizing Project.
The Faithful Accompaniment in Trust & Hope (FAITH) ministry has trained 738 volunteers to serve at the courthouse as of September 2026, including 51 Catholic priests, 24 deacons, and 13 religious sisters, as well as clergy from other faith traditions.
Last fall, Bishop Pham announced that Catholic Charities would partner with parishes to provide emergency funds to help vulnerable families to meet their basic needs amid the wave of deportations. The funds would give families time to get their footing as they figured out their next steps.
The bishop has continually raised the Church’s teaching that calls on the faithful to uphold the sacredness of all human life, which includes immigrants and refugees, as well as the infirm and elderly.
On Sept. 27, he led a procession at Balboa Park called “All Are Sacred,” that included leaders from other faith traditions.
He often cited his own journey to the United States as a refugee from Vietnam, arriving as a teenager.
“Today, I stand as a leader of a Catholic Church, thanks to the opportunities (in the United States) that allowed me to contribute to society. I believe most refugees and migrants, whether documented or undocumented, come seeking opportunities for a better life. The majority of us who reside in this country make a positive contribution to society,” he said during the prayer service at St. Joseph Cathedral in June of 2025.
“We have to follow the law, but we have to treat each other with love and compassion,” he said. “We have to strive to live by the example Christ set for us.”
