“Stop the attacks on the migrant community and the raids”, that is the generalized petition that the faithful in the U.S. have asked the Virgin of Guadalupe this Friday in the midst of the celebrations to the ‘Morenita’, which have been decimated by the fear of the escalation of the deportation campaign promoted by the White House.
“I know that the little virgin can work a miracle for us and stop this nightmare,” Marta Lazo, a Guatemalan woman who went to the Church of Perpetual Help in Norwalk, California, to light a candle in honor of the virgin, told EFE.
Our Lady of Guadalupe to stop the raids
Praying for a safe feast day for the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims traveling to @SantuarioGdlpe in Des Plaines. It is a profound joy for our diocese to host the largest celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe outside Mexico City. May Our Lady protect your every step. pic.twitter.com/WVvxTsVjN2
– Cardinal Cupich (@CardinalBCupich) December 11, 2025
The immigrant regrets not being able to attend the celebrations that are commonly held in Los Angeles parishes in the early morning of December 12 to serenade the virgin. Fear of immigration officials showing up made her miss this year’s Mexican-led celebration.
“She (the Virgin of Guadalupe) sees and hears everything, she knows we can’t expose ourselves,” Lazo explains with watery eyes as he says a prayer and then leaves for work.
Like Lazo, this year undocumented immigrants in the U.S. have preferred to avoid large crowds so as not to attract the attention of immigration agents, who have concentrated their operations on the Latino community.
Pastors and priests in churches around the country have understood this. For example, Father Esequiel Sanchez, rector of the Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Des Plaines, Illinois, recommended that those who do not feel comfortable attending the festivities because of immigration control measures stay home.
Although the priest said pilgrims would be beyond the reach of the raids while inside the shrine, he acknowledged that nothing could be done to safeguard those intercepted on the way to or from the shrine, the most important Catholic pilgrimage site near Chicago, which attracts hundreds of thousands of people annually to honor the Virgin of Guadalupe.
Networking in churches?
With temperatures below zero but with their faith on fire, dozens of riders rode from dawn to the Shrine of Guadalupe in Des Plaines in Illinois to give thanks. In pictures we tell you how it was lived. https://t.co/unL1PbaufK pic.twitter.com/yq0iD9eTqs
– Univision Chicago (@unichicago) December 9, 2025
The fear of immigration agents arriving at the temples has increased in recent months.
Last month an audio sent via WhatsApp circulated among religious leaders in the Atlanta, Georgia area, warning of possible mass immigration raids on churches, forcing many religious leaders to cancel services.
A similar rumor circulated in Massachusetts warning of possible Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids on churches during the upcoming holidays, the National Catholic Reporter (NCRonline) reported.
Department of Homeland Security Undersecretary Tricia McLaughlin denied the reports.
“ICE does not raid churches, regardless of whether it is the Christmas season or not. This is just another false narrative to try to demonize our brave agents,” he emphasized in a statement quoted by the Catholic media outlet.
The virgin leads a march
The celebrations begin at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Los Angeles.
Today don’t miss our #SpecialTransmission of “Las Mañanitas a la Virgen de Guadalupe” from the Cathedral of Our Lady of Los Angeles.
Check all the information from “Héroes Paisanos” program… pic.twitter.com/a1rDOx6p9C
– Víctor Cabrera (@victorcabreramx) December 12, 2025
Faced with this panorama, religious leaders, supported by activists and human rights defenders, have taken the lead to commemorate the apparition of the Virgin of Guadalupe and bring a message of faith and hope to the community.
In Los Angeles, a march of the faithful began at the iconic Our Lady the Queen of Los Angeles Church in Placita Olvera and culminated at the city’s cathedral.
“Faith gives us the courage to keep fighting, fighting for our people, for our families, fighting for these horrible raids and this lack of humanity to end,” Angelica Salas, director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights(Chirla), told attendees.
A similar message was given by numerous community leaders including union representatives, state legislators and U.S. citizens who clung to the brown virgin to encourage the community.
The march joined by hundreds of people made a stop in front of the immigration jail in downtown Los Angeles, where priests asked for a special prayer for all those who are detained and separated from their families.
Filed under: Virgin of Guadalupe stop the raids
With information from EFE
