The Rev. Luis Duarte, pastor at St. Jerome Catholic Church in Kenner, woke up Wednesday morning (Nov. 19) and took a few phone calls in his office. Then he decided to cancel all group activities at the church, other than mass, this week and the coming weeks.
He made the decision, he said, because he’s worried that rather than a place of sanctuary, his church in Kenner could soon become a target for federal immigration authorities.
As hundreds of U.S. Border Patrol agents descend on the New Orleans area by the beginning of December, Duarte said he’s concerned that the many daily activities at the church would make parishioners vulnerable to immigration enforcement operations. In this heavily Hispanic city, 80% of St. Jerome’s congregants are Hispanic, and many of them are immigrants, he said…