Thread: 46 ILLEGAL ALIENS BUSED TO CHURCH IN FONTANA FOR RELEASE

BREAKING: 46 ILLEGAL ALIENS BUSED TO CHURCH IN FONTANA FOR RELEASE

by DANIEL NUSSBAUM 10 Jul 2014, 4:09 PM PDT

​FONTANA, CA -- Breitbart News has learned that 46 illegal aliens, mostly women and children originally destined for the U.S. Border Patrol station in Murrieta, CA, were bused instead Thursday to the St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Fontana, roughly 45 miles north. The 46 are among several hundred Central Americans who were caught crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas and have been transferred to California since.

"The faith calls on us to do this," San Bernadino Diocese spokesperson John Andrews told Breitbart News. He said that the aliens would, in less than 24 hours, be driven from the church in individual cars to meet other church representatives, who are with the family members already living in the United States.

At least one more bus is expected Thursday, Andrews told Breitbart News, whose passengers would be gone again by the evening.

Protests in Murrieta against the transfers thwarted a convoy of there buses on July 1, then caused U.S. Border Patrol to cancel two subsequent convoys.

Demonstrators remain on hand in Murrieta to prevent the buses from returning. Yet they have not been able to prevent the transfers themselves, which have been facilitated by the church as a humanitarian gesture.

Illegal aliens are expected to appear before court hearings, yet few do so.

http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-C...na-for-Release

http://www.alipac.us/f12/ca-bused-im...valley-306712/

IMMIGRATION: Catholic church receives Central American migrants

The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Bernardino, working in conjunction with ICE, agrees to house, feed and care for Central American migrants until they can be reunited with their family members already living in the U.S.

Bianca, a 16-year-old immigrant from El Salvador who declined to give her last name, talks with the media at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Fontana on Thursday, July 10, 2014.
DAVID BAUMAN, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

BY RICHARD K. De ATLEY / CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Published: July 10, 2014 Updated: 8:02 p.m.


HOW TO HELP

To donate money, the San Bernardino Diocese has set up a website:https://www.osvonlinegiving.com/Default.aspx?cid=666

To donate personal hygiene items, bedding, food items and water, bring them to St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church at 339 N. Sycamore Ave., Rialto
They are discouraging clothing donations, saying it is easier to buy new clothes than it is to sort and clean used clothing.

About 50 migrants from Central America arrived early Thursday at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Fontana from a detention center in San Diego County. They are receiving assistance from Caridades Catolicas, a program from the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Bernardino.

Additional arrivals in Southern California were put in doubt Thursday afternoon when the U.S. Border Patrol announced it will stop bringing Central American migrants to San Diego after their arrests in Texas.

Spokesman Paul Carr said Thursday the agency has reduced its backlog in south Texas and can process more migrants there.

He said a wave of protests at the Murrieta Border Patrol station where migrants were to be processed had nothing to do with the decision.

According to John Andrews, spokesman for the diocese, the families at St. Joseph are well and will get help with primary needs such as shelter, food, medical assistance and transportation for up to 72 hours.

The presence of the migrants at St. Joseph prompted enough phone calls to Fontana City Hall that the police department released a statement Thursday afternoon saying the city was not involved in the matter.

“Some people are upset, and it’s a misperception that the city is involved,” said police spokeswoman Martha Guzman-Hurtado.

The statement said the temporary placement of the migrants “is a humanitarian effort on the part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Bernardino in cooperation with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ... the city has no direct control over the policies of ICE or the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Bernardino.”

The statement said the city will monitor the situation for code and public safety issues.

“St. Joseph is serving as a transitional center for approximately 50 refugees, mostly women and children, and they will be assessed helping them to make the connection in the United States with families within 24 hours,” said Andrews. “They will receive clothing, medical assistance and spiritual guidance and help connecting with family members. Most of them have family in the United States, some have a mom who is a permanent resident or a dad who is a citizen, and they will actually be taken to the bus station so they can be reunited.”

One of the migrants is 16-year-old Dianca from El Salvador, who arrived together with her mom.

“I’m from El Salvador and I’m here with my family. The church welcomed us. We are here and we are OK,” she said.

Petra Alexander, director of Hispanic Affairs at the diocese, said most of the people arrived from a detention center in San Diego County, without specifying the exact location, and that they look tired and are hungry and in desperate need of reuniting with loved ones. The media were not allowed inside the old convent where the migrants are being assisted by an army of volunteers; however, Alexander described the scene as a real humanitarian crisis.

“The difference with this crisis and other types of crises such as wildfires or earthquakes is that federal agencies cannot provide assistance. It is the community that is responding, providing basic services. These people want to rest, take a shower, eat home meals, but most importantly they want to reunite with family,” said Alexander. “Most of them are going to New York, New Jersey and other far-away states. We are currently waiting for families to send them money, and, if they can’t, then we will provide them with a bus ticket.”

Fontana Unified School District Board of Education member Barbara Chavez said the Fontana Police Department donated seven car seats for children in case they need to be transported by car, but she said the church is in desperate need of more beds. Chavez is seeking help from local clubs and organizations such as the Fontana Chamber of Commerce to buy sleeping bags or inflatable mattresses.

http://www.pe.com/articles/concerned-697356-porter-church.html

California church handing out ‘travel cash’ to illegals heading east

A Catholic church in a California community has opened its doors to the influx of illegals making their way across the border, giving temporary shelter — and cash — to 46 of them who were waiting for bus rides to spots around the country.San Bernardino Diocese spokesman John Andres told Breitbart that the church handed out “travel cash” to 14 adults and 32 children who were headed east, specifically to New York or New Jersey.“The Catholic Church welcomed us,” an immigrant named Bianca told CBS’s Los Angeles affiliate. “We are here. We are OK.”

The cash disbursements and church aid comes as protesters down the road in Murrieta continue to try and stave off any more busloads of illegals being dropped in the community.One of the organizers at the Murrieta protest, Diana Serafin, told Breitbart that they’re going to stay along the border and hold vigil outside the Border Patrol station as long as they feel the illegal immigration threat remains.“We can’t let our guard down,” she said.

Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...#ixzz37Bt2M0Kp

Majority of Central American immigrants now gone from Fontana church

By Monica Rodriguez, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
POSTED: 07/11/14, 10:16 PM PDT

FONTANA >> The pace of activity at St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church slowed down considerably Friday.

St. Joseph received 46 Central Americans - families consisting of women with children - Thursday morning. By Friday morning the number had dropped to less than a dozen.

The families were part of the many woman and children who have turned up at the U.S. border seeking to enter the country. The immigrant arrival sparked strong emotional reactions outside a Border Patrol station in Murrieta in recent weeks

More than 30 immigrants left St. Joseph Thursday, said John Andrews, spokesman for the Diocese of San Bernardino.

“The process of intake went pretty quickly,” Andrews said. “It shows the process was done well and a lot of it is a credit to Catholic Charities (of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties). That’s what they are trained to do and they did it.”

When the families arrived Thursday morning aboard a Department of Homeland Security bus, a team of St. Joseph volunteers and personnel from Catholic Charities was present to assist.

The families were taken to a former convent on the church grounds where they were able to have a meal, shower, have a change of clothes and take a break before continuing their journey, Andrews said.

Volunteers at St. Catherine of Sienna in Rialto, one of three churches prepared to accommodate the immigrants, sent over items ranging from food to bedding.

The diocese, which was looking for the best way to assist the Central American immigrants, met with federal authorities last week and began preparing to work with the immigrants.

As part of the diocese efforts, they welcomed the families and helped them contact relatives, assisted them in purchasing bus or train tickets and then made sure they were safely on their way to meet their families who are mostly in communities in the Midwest and the East Coast, Andrews said. Catholic Charities personnel are also making sure that someone is waiting for the immigrant families at their final destination and that the person will ensure they are reunited with the relatives.

All of the costs incurred from the time the families arrived at St. Joseph are being covered by the diocese with the help of donations, Andrews said.

All of the families arrived at the church with the name and contact information for family members in the U.S., with documents from their country and with paperwork from the federal government that allow them to be in the country legally while they wait for an immigration hearing to take place, Andrews said.

As of Friday morning the diocese had not received word on whether additional immigrants would be coming to St. Joseph, he said.

Travel arrangements for the remaining families had been made and they were expected to leave the convent Friday, Andrews said.

St. Joseph was intended to be a transition center where the families would stay for 24 to 48 hours before continuing on their journey. The first family was on its way to meet with family members within 3 1/2 hours of reaching St. Joseph.

Some who object to St. Joseph focusing its efforts on assisting the immigrants rather than concentrating on other needs plan to hold a rally starting at 11 a.m. Sunday outside of St. Joseph, said Robin Hvidston, executive director of We The People Rising.

Hvidston said some residents of the city would like to see the families reunited with their relatives but in their own countries.

In addition, the church, along with the federal government, should focus more attention on children in the U.S. foster care system, on homeless veterans and unemployed Americans.

The federal government has provided millions of dollars to the Catholic and Baptist churches to assist families who are trying to become reunited with relatives in the U.S., Hvidston said.

“Those tax dollars should have gone to veterans, to American children in foster care” and unemployed Americans, she said.

The group has no issue with the children who have arrived, Hvidston said.

“It’s our government we have an issue with, our government and church leaders,” she said. The children “are just the victims, just like the American population.”

The American population and its needs deserve greater attention, Hvidston said.

Andrews said collectively the diocese and Catholic Charities does a great deal of work with the homeless and veterans.

Many of the churches have significant programs meant to provide meals and the food to the homeless and the poor and Catholic Charities works to address the individual needs of thousands of people annually, he said.

“We do recognize there is a great need in the country,” Andrews said.
However, there is also a need for providing assistance to those who are coming from another country and who are also experiencing great difficulties, he said.

“These are not mutually exclusive activities,” he said. “We do serve veterans, and homeless families and the children of this country.”

Josie Weatherbee of Fontana stopped by Friday and dropped off four bags of clothing in sizes ranging from toddlers to teens.

Two bags came from her neighbor who has children of various ages.
“I think we should all help one another,” Weatherbee said. “We are here to make a difference in people’s lives.”

Weatherbee said people should refrain from engaging in aggressive and negative behavior as has been displayed in Murrieta.

“We don’t need to do that because what goes around comes around,” she said.

http://www.sbsun.com/social-affairs/...fontana-church