A Catholic Bishop slammed immigration raids conducted at churches in an open letter to his parishioners. In a letter shared on Facebook to his parishioners at the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Bernardino in San Bernardino, California, Mexican-born Bishop Alberto Rojas denounced recent immigration raids where ICE agents entered Catholic parish properties in Montclair and Highland and detained multiple people in the parking lot of St. Adelaide Church in Highland, California. According to a spokesperson for the diocese, none of those detained were parishioners of St. Adelaide.

In his letter, Rojas decried division, stating, “Let us instead remember what we all share- our creation in His image and likeness. Let us look for God in one another.” While acknowledging those who were against the raids and ICE had a constitutional right to protest, Rojas called on protesters to “act without vulgarity, violence toward others, or destruction of property.” He also implored “political leaders and decision-makers” to cease such tactics as sending in the National Guard to round up illegal immigrants, saying such a move “is creating a tremendous amount of fear.” “”The tension around this issue has been further heightened by the decision to deploy federal National Guard troops and military personnel to the sites of these protests. At this point, this seems only to increase the level of anger and fear of violence in the streets,” he wrote, adding, “It is not of the Gospel of Jesus Christ- which guides us in all that we do.”

“Authorities are now seizing brothers and sisters indiscriminately, without respect for their right to due process and their dignity as children of God,” he claimed. He assured people experiencing such seizure that the church would stand by them. “I say once again to our immigrant communities who are bearing the trauma and injustice of these tactics that your Church walks with you and supports you,” and that, “We join you in carrying this very difficult cross.”

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has denied claims that it entered church property. “The accusation that ICE entered a church to make an arrest are FALSE. ICE conducted a traffic stop on an illegal alien on June 20 in the general proximity of Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Montclair, California,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Newsweek. “The illegal alien chose to pull into the church parking lot. Officers then safely made the arrest. There were no officers near Saint Adelaide Church, Montclair, California.”