STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Many people without legal status in this country are living in fear. They're waiting for the federal government to include them in its immigration crackdown. Some are also receiving support from other people of faith. From KQED in San Francisco, Tyche Hendricks has our story, which we'll advise you mentions suicide.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Singing in non-English language).
TYCHE HENDRICKS, BYLINE: It's a chilly Thursday evening in Oakland, and scores of people holding candles kneel in the courtyard of St. Jarlath Catholic Church. One is a middle-aged welder named Vicente. He came here from Mexico 26 years ago but has never been able to secure legal immigration status. With the specter of arrest, he says his fear is so high these days, he doesn't want to go out to do anything.
VICENTE: (Speaking Spanish).
HENDRICKS: We're not using Vicente's last name because he worries he could be deported and separated from his 10-year-old U.S.-born son. Pastor Simon Mbuthi says anxious parents are keeping their kids home from catechism class. So he centers this evening's Mass on a prayer by the late Pope Francis for the protection of migrants.
SIMON MBUTHI: To dispel fear, first of all, and also to let them know that they are not alone in this.
HENDRICKS: A multidenominational group called Faith in Action asked the priest for this special service and candlelight procession. Afterward, they give information about the rapid response hotline for reporting and verifying ICE activity. Emma Paulino is a longtime organizer with the group. She says it's important for people to see their clergy stand with them through this hard time.
EMMA PAULINO: For many families, immigrant families, the church is the second home. The church is a place where we feel safe, where we feel like this is my community.
HENDRICKS: And building community is key when immigrants feel targeted and isolated. That's according to Lisa Fortuna, who chairs the psychiatry department at the University of California, Riverside Medical School.
LISA FORTUNA: That sort of risk and uncertainty and threat in itself has been found to be a risk factor for mental health problems.
HENDRICKS: Her research shows chronic anxiety can lead to depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and even thoughts of suicide. But she says research also shows that social support is key to recovering from traumatic events.
FORTUNA: Those salient community spaces and cultural spaces and faith spaces are part of the resilience of the community. It's the way that they maintain their health, their mental health, their, like, social networks.
HENDRICKS: She says some churches and community groups are calling on nonimmigrants to be a protective presence simply by showing up. One who's doing that is lifelong Oaklander Jim Wood, who joined the candlelight procession around St. Jarlath's Church.
JIM WOOD: People who have come here deserve so much better than what it is that this country is giving them.
HENDRICKS: Wood is a lawyer and offers free legal help to his fellow parishioners. For Vicente, the welder, having Wood and other members of Faith in Action at his side as he and his son walk through the dark streets with candles raised gives him courage.
VICENTE: (Speaking Spanish).
HENDRICKS: He says "standing together and connected to faith, it's a way of saying, here I am." For advocates like Paulino, reminding people of their inherent worth is an antidote to fear and a source of power.
PAULINO: My dignity is not something that somebody in a political power position give to me. This is a gift from God.
HENDRICKS: And that, she says, is something no one can take away.
For NPR News, I'm Tyche Hendricks in Oakland, California.
INSKEEP: If you or someone you know may be considering suicide or is in crisis, you can call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
(SOUNDBITE OF PIANO DREAMERS' "THE MOTHER WE SHARE") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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