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Sister Runs Los Angeles Reentry Homes That Shelter Formerly Incarcerated Immigrants at Risk of Deportation

Her mercy-driven program highlights how rehabilitation and housing services collide with ongoing immigration removal cases.

Overview

  • Francisco Homes is a Catholic-run reentry program that provides transitional and permanent housing, case management, recovery groups, and job help for up to about 95 men across multiple houses in Los Angeles.
  • Many residents are noncitizens who served long prison terms and now face deportation under U.S. immigration rules that make certain serious convictions grounds for removal.
  • Residents' personal cases, including men identified as Arturo and M. Pérez, show people who completed long sentences, engaged in treatment and work, and still confront immigration detention or removal proceedings.
  • Sister Teresa Groth frames the work as mercy and restorative care while some church leaders call for limiting deportations to the most violent offenders, creating a tension between pastoral advocacy and enforcement policy.
  • The coverage notes studies that find immigrants commit crime at lower rates than U.S.-born people and flags ongoing legal issues such as detainees' access to court-appointed counsel and the human cost of separating men from families.