MIAMI — One day every year, Catholics around the world honor Saint Frances Cabrini, the patron saint of immigrants who spent much of her life working with marginalized Italians flocking to the United States in the early 1900s.

That day, Nov. 13, was Thursday and in Miami, faith leaders and advocates for immigrants used the celebration of Mother Cabrini to call for more humanity in the immigration system and condemn the White House’s mass deportation agenda.

A group of some 40 people gathered at the immigration courthouse in downtown Miami to pray for immigrants facing deportation and honor those who have died while in detention since President Donald Trump returned to office. The choice of location was also significant. Federal authorities are regularly picking up immigrants attending their court hearings, a reflection of the more aggressive enforcement tactics employed under this administration.

“This is a moment to reflect on what we can do collectively in our parishes, in our communities, our state, our country, everywhere,” said Silvia Muñoz of the Pedro Arrupe Jesuit Institute.

The interfaith vigil, organized by the Ignatian Solidarity Network and sponsored by the Pedro Arrupe Jesuit Institute, is part of a nationwide campaign organized by various Catholic organizations called “One Church, One Family: Catholic Public Witness for Immigrants.” The movement asks dioceses, churches, schools and religious groups to support migrants by hosting prayer vigils in places where they face some of the most difficult moments of their immigration cases, such as detention centers and immigration courthouses.

“Today we continue affirming our commitment to continue accompanying, observing, and denouncing these practices, and working so the immigration system is more just, more human, and more respectful of the rights of every person,” said Maria Asuncion Bilbao of American Friends Service Committee in Spanish.

After organizers read the names of 25 people who have died at detention centers across the U.S. since January — including six in Florida, Muñoz encouraged the crowd to take a “Cabrini pledge,” or a commitment to immigrants the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops endorses.

People who took the pledge on Thursday promised “to affirm the human dignity of immigrants, to engage scripture and the church’s social teachings on migration, and to listen to learn about the circumstances facing migrants,” said Muñoz. Offering other opportunities to get involved, Muñoz encouraged people to volunteer for the Miramar Circle of Protection, a group that supports people attending Immigration and Customs Enforcement check ins, as well as to talk about the day of action with family members and friends.

Polling suggests that the public is divided on Trump’s handling of immigration, largely along party lines. But there also is a growing movement of faith communities who have denounced the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration tactics and the creation of detention centers like Alligator Alcatraz in the harsh environment of the Everglades.

In a rare statement on Wednesday, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a “special message,” expressing collective concern for immigrants in the United States, as well as the government policies affecting them. At times divided on American politics’ under Pope Francis, the Catholic leaders showed a united stance on immigration and echoed Pope Leo XIV, the first American-born pope and a vocal supporter of immigrants’ rights.

The Catholic Bishops emphasized that the Church recognizes “the fundamental dignity of all persons, including immigrants,” and advocated “for a meaningful reform of our nation’s immigration laws and procedures.”

“We are saddened by the state of contemporary debate and the vilification of immigrants. We are concerned about the conditions in detention centers and the lack of access to pastoral care,” the statement read.

In Miami, Archbishop Thomas Wenski also has been outspoken. In a statement posted to the Archdiocese of Miami website over the summer, Wenski condemned Alligator Alcatraz, a Florida-run immigration detention that opened over the summer. He described it as “alarming” and “unbecoming of public officials.”

‘Faith requires action’

At the vigil, Ellie Hidalgo, co-director of the Catholic organization Discerning Deacons, said Cabrini’s life exemplified how Catholics should treat immigrants, migrants and people living in the margins of society.

“She built bridges and welcomed, she offered education and healing, and she reminded all the people then, and she reminds us today that faith requires action … and that’s why we are here today,” Hidalgo said.

With the blessing of Archbishop Corrigan of New York, Cabrini, an orphan who joined the Sisters of the Sacred Heart at 18 years old, spent nearly 30 years traveling back and forth across from Italy to the United States. Cabrini helped set up orphanages, hospitals, convents, and schools for the Italian immigrants who were persecuted against and treated with hostility in the late 1800s, according to the Catholic News Agency.

Father Orlando Cardoso, a priest at St. Dominic Catholic Church in Miami, said Christians everywhere have a moral obligation to support immigrants or anyone experiencing hardship. He said people at his predominantly Spanish-speaking parish are distressed about Trump’s immigration crackdown. Some parishioners have stopped showing up to church altogether out of fear, he said.

“Because some of the people, they may be afraid to go out.. We invite them to pray together, to come to the church and to trust in the Lord,” he said.

The vigil, held after a peaceful march from Gesu Catholic Church to the courthouse, also came on the same day that federal and Florida officials announced that a joint operation across the state resulted in the arrest of over 200 sex offenders who were unlawfully in the United States.

One attendee at the Miami rally, Billy Botsch, an activist involved with the Quaker organization, American Friends Service Committee, said he’s personally witnessed over 160 arrests at the Miami courthouse since he began showing up in May.

Most of them aren’t dangerous criminals but people looking to make a better life, said Botsch, who has been a volunteer with the Miramar Circle of Protection since 2019.

“The people who are being taken to this courthouse are trying to make an affirmative case about why they should be allowed to remain here,” he said. “That’s the whole point of the system. And so to target the exact people who are going through the proper motions to make that case just seems counterproductive to me.”

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—Miami Herald staff writer Syra Ortiz Blanes contributed to this story.

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