Thousands flock to interfaith march in San Diego to proclaim dignity for immigrants

Kristen Taketa, The San Diego Union-Tribune on Sep 27, 2026

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Thousands of San Diegans of several faiths marched by Balboa Park on Sunday to call for the dignity of migrants and refugees as the Trump administration’s roundups of immigrants have recently reached new highs.

The afternoon event, under a bright gray sky that shed occasional bouts of rain, evoked vibes of a 1960s peace march.

Musicians performed a concert on the grass before the procession that combined worship music in three languages and protest folk songs, performed with vocals, keyboard, acoustic guitar, violin and a tambourine.

The crowd sang and swayed to Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind” and The Beatles’ “Let It Be,” and clapped to the Catholic Spanish-language song “Alabaré.” People carried banners displaying the names of their congregations as well as handmade signs with messages such as “Never again is now,” “Child of God, child of immigrants” and Jesus’ quote from the Bible’s Gospel of Matthew, “I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”

The crowd began the procession singing “We Shall Overcome.” An Aztec drummer in the back of a Ford pickup and a troupe of Aztec dancers led the front, followed by dozens of clergy and thousands of others. The crowd filled the street and spanned city blocks as they walked up and down Fifth and Sixth Avenues, next to the park.

The procession was organized by the Catholic Diocese of San Diego in light of Pope Leo XIV’s declaration of Sunday as World Day of Migrants and Refugees. The diocese’s Bishop Michael Pham, a Vietnamese refugee himself, has been vocal about supporting immigrants.

“We are created in God’s image and likeness,” he said in an interview. “That’s why every one of you, every one of us, have dignity and value. Therefore, we need to respect and care for each other.”

The procession comes as immigration enforcement has been quietly but sharply rising in the San Diego region. Arrests by San Diego’s ICE division recently reached a new monthly high. In July, more than 1,900 people were detained.

“We are here because something in our hearts led us here,” said the Rev. Scott Santarosa, of Our Lady of Guadalupe parish. “As a religious person, a person of faith, or just as a human being, something in your heart tells you a certain truth: that each and every person deserves dignity and respect.”

Fidel, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico who gave his first name only, spoke to the crowd through a translator to describe the six weeks he spent detained at the Otay Mesa ICE detention center. He said he wasn’t fed consistently, and the food he got was tasteless.

It was horrible, he said, to be separated from his family. When he talked to his daughter on the phone, he kept his emotions together for her sake, but as soon as he got off the call, he went to his room and cried. He suspects she did the same.

His next court hearing is next month. He said he will find out on her 21st birthday whether he will be deported.

Other speakers included leaders of First Unitarian Universalist Church, Congregation Dor Hadash, Islamic Center of San Diego, Congregation Beth Israel and St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral. They call God by different names, but they all believe their faith required them to show up on Sunday.

Mike Rothbaum, rabbi of Congregation Dor Hadash, said immigration is personal for him: His grandmother was a first-generation immigrant who settled in Brooklyn, N.Y., to escape Nazi Germany. His mother lives in a care facility that depends on Haitian workers, and the facility just lost dozens because the administration terminated temporary protected status for Haitians this summer.

“May we never stop praying, never stop standing, never stop speaking and struggling with Fidel and everyone who is like him, because they are like us,” Rothbaum said.

Taha Hassane, imam of Islamic Center of San Diego, noted that the Quran says most Muslim prophets were migrants.

“Migration has often been part of the faith journey, born out of deep hardship, displacement and persecution,” Hassane said. “They arrive not merely seeking shelter, but seeking dignity, safety, and a hand of brotherhood. At that point, it becomes the duty upon us as people of faith and goodwill and conscience to protect them, to welcome them and to advocate for their dignity and well being.”

Allisyn Thomas, interim dean at St. Paul’s Episcopal, said: “If you don’t love your neighbor, then you’re not loving God.”

On Sunday, faith groups gathered petition signatures calling for policy reforms to help immigrants: greater access for religious leaders to provide pastoral care at the Otay Mesa detention center, regular and ongoing county health inspections of the center, legal representation for everyone facing deportation and the banning of immigration enforcement from houses of worship, schools, hospitals and clinics.