Tuesday, January 27, 2026

Expecting Dozens, Pasadena Church Sees 800 Pack Sanctuary for Immigration Defense Training

By Eddie Rivera with Therese Edu

[Photo courtesy Patrick Briggs]

Lines stretched down Union Street as residents sought guidance on responding to ICE encounters in their neighborhoods

Organizers at All Saints Episcopal Church set up a meeting room Monday expecting perhaps 100 people for a workshop on how to respond when federal immigration agents appear in local neighborhoods.

But within minutes, the room was full. Residents packed the church campus and spilled into the sanctuary. Lines stretched down Union Street and nearly around the block.

By the time the two-and-a-half-hour training session concluded, nearly 800 people had packed the historic church’s main sanctuary — a space normally reserved for Sunday worship — to learn what to do if they witness a neighbor being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“We expected a hundred people,” said Patrick Briggs, an All Saints parishioner and vestry member. “We had almost 800.”

The extraordinary turnout reflected a community on edge.

The training came amid heightened local ICE activity and national anxiety following recent reports of U.S. citizens being shot by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minneapolis, an incident that has intensified fears about aggressive enforcement tactics.

“It’s definitely very much connected to Minneapolis and what’s going on there,” Briggs said. “But some of the strategies and ways that people stay connected and build these alliances started here.”

The workshop, hosted by All Saints and organized by the community group Grupo Auto Defensa, served as an introductory training focused on how community members can safely and effectively respond when ICE agents are present.

Participants were taught basic steps to take if they witness a person being detained — including how to gather information that might help a detained person’s family find them.

“They’re told to ask for a person’s name and phone number and family so somebody can let the family know that that person has been kidnapped,” Briggs said. “That helps people find them.”

The scale of the crowd forced organizers to abandon their original format. Rather than break into small groups, trainers demonstrated scenarios from the front of the sanctuary using microphones so the large audience could follow along. No recording or filming was permitted — a measure intended to protect the identities of both participants and organizers.

While many attendees described the training as helpful, some found the volume of information intense.

“Some people said it’s overwhelming,” Briggs said. “But they’re happy that they took it.”

For Briggs, one of the most striking moments came not from the training itself but from watching his neighbors’ reactions to the crowd.

“There were multiple people I know who are Mexican-American, Bolivian, undocumented, with tears in their eyes at the sight of so many people,” he said.

Briggs said the church views the effort as central to its mission.

“All Saints will make this a very important part of our justice mission,” he said. “Our role is to protect and love our neighbors.”

For those seeking deeper involvement, Briggs outlined a multi-step validation process used by Grupo Auto Defensa. Interested volunteers are encouraged to visit the group’s information tent at Garfield Avenue and Orange Grove Boulevard on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon and to participate in ICE watch efforts at the Pasadena Home Depot on Saturdays.

After completing training and these verification steps, participants may assist with activities such as food delivery for people afraid to leave their homes, ICE monitoring at schools, and joining encrypted Signal messaging channels used by organizers.