Logan Heights parish to open immigrant resource center to address community’s changing needs

A Logan Heights parish is opening a new immigrant resource center to address what it views as the community’s “urgent and changing needs” in response to the Trump administration’s continued mass deportation campaign.

The Pope Francis Center is described as a “welcoming and supportive space” that will connect immigrants with available resources from government and nonprofit groups, as well as offer spiritual and emotional support, such as counseling and escorts to court hearings and other appointments.

The center will work with the American Bar Association’s Immigration Justice Project in San Diego and other local organizations to provide legal services.

The center is the latest effort by Our Lady of Guadalupe to serve its large immigrant congregation and others in the community.

The parish used to run an off-site migrant shelter at a separate location nearby for more than a year. Many of the migrants were asylum seekers who had recently arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border and wanted to settle in San Diego County. Around this time last year, the shelter was at capacity.

That all changed when, on his first day in office, President Donald Trump scrapped the CBP One appointment system that migrants were told to use to schedule appointments to be vetted at the border. Migrants largely stopped crossing, and the shelter closed its doors.

It was then that the Jesuit parish began to ponder the community’s emerging needs, said the Rev. Scott Santarosa of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Responding to the Trump administration’s plans of mass deportation became the priority, he said.

The Pope Francis Center is set to open Monday, steps away from Our Lady of Guadalupe. Decades ago, the site was a convent. It was once considered a possible location for a shelter for migrant women and children, but the idea was put on hold when the situation changed at the border.

The center is named after the late Pope Francis, an advocate for immigrants and refugees who was also a Jesuit. Santarosa has a framed photo in his office from his second meeting with Francis in Rome in 2016. He fondly remembers the pope’s warmth.

“We wanted the center to embody a kind of warmth and welcome,” he said, “and I think the image on the logo kind of captures that with his arm open.”

The center follows the launch of the Faithful Accompaniment in Trust and Hope, or FAITH, program. Since August, religious leaders and volunteers have accompanied immigrants to court hearings and check-in appointments with Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Edward J. Schwartz federal building in downtown San Diego. Volunteers will also begin offering to accompany people to their green card appointments at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services building.

The effort to provide spiritual support began after reports surfaced of immigrants being arrested at those sites. FAITH started as a month-long pilot program with about 80 to 100 volunteers but has since grown into a year-round program with 465 volunteers, Santarosa said.

“The common inspiration between FAITH and the center is this desire to be attentive to what the needs are,” said Santarosa.

Brinkley Johnson, the center’s founding manager, said that people who reach out to the parish for help are either longtime community members — most of whom might have mixed-status families — or recent arrivals who may not be affiliated with the church, or even be Catholic. Still, they have heard about the church’s efforts to provide assistance.

The Immigration Justice Project will initially offer legal screenings, orientations, advice, referrals and pro se assistance for those looking to represent themselves, said interim director Laura Flores.

“As this is a new collaboration, we will be working to assess the needs in the first three months and work collaboratively to develop services to meet those needs,” Flores said in a statement. “We are grateful to Our Lady of Guadalupe’s dedicated staff and community who have worked diligently to bring the Pope Francis Center into fruition for our immigrant community in 2026. Through our collaboration, IJP continues advancing its mission of ensuring access to justice for immigrants.”

The two-story building will have offices, counseling rooms, meeting rooms, a childcare area and a chapel. Santarosa said that people who would rather not come in person can call to request information or contact the office through its website.

He expects the services to be funded by charitable donations.