Fontana Church Houses 46 Undocumented Immigrants From Texas Border Crisis
FONTANA (CBSLA.com) — Dozens of undocumented immigrants Thursday morning arrived at a San Bernardino County church.
A group of 32 children and 14 adults, who illegally crossed the U.S. border into Texas, arrived at St. Joseph's Church in the 17000 block of Arrow Boulevard in Fontana.
"The Catholic Church welcomed us. We are here, we are okay," Bianca, a Salvadorian who is seeking refugee status with her mother in the States, said.
The group is being housed in an old convent and is expected to stay there for a couple of days as plans are arranged to get the immigrants to their final destinations, a church spokesperson said.
"Watching them come off the bus – I see a lot of smiles, I see children playing . . . a little diversion from what they've been through," John Andrews of the Archdiocese of San Bernardino said.
Andrews said none of the arriving immigrants showed obvious signs of sickness.
"I don't see anyone that appears to be in ill health or emotional distress. So, by and large, they seem to be happy to be here . . . happy to have someone helping them," he added.
St. Joseph's declined to get into the politics of the immigrant situation, stating they only wanted to address a humanitarian crisis.