KTLA

Fontana Church Provides Refuge for Undocumented Immigrants Following Murrieta Protests

Forty-six immigrants carrying temporary visas arrived at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Fontana on Thursday aboard Homeland Security buses.

St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Fontana was housing undocumented immigrants that were dropped off July 10, 2014. They were staying in a former convent. (Credit: KTLA)

The church is helping federal agencies process the immigrants.

Following anti-immigrant protests in Murrieta, Fontana residents were giving the immigrants, most of them children, a much warmer welcome.

Bishop Gerald Barnes greeting immigrants on July 10, 2014, at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Fontana, in a photo provided by the church.

“I think it’s good. Why not help them?” said resident Maria Manriquez, who was spending the afternoon at a park next to the church. “Many of us in the community came here the exact same way. We went through the same thing. Just how they’re suffering now, that’s how we suffered.”

Click here to read the full story on LATimes.com.