SF archbishop on Trump: Church will aid undocumented immigrants

The Archbishop of San Francisco Salvatore Cordileone leads a prayer service on the corner of O' Farrell and Larkin streets, for Gabriel Ramirez. After the memorial, the archbishop offered his thoughts on the early days of the Trump presidency. less The Archbishop of San Francisco Salvatore Cordileone leads a prayer service on the corner of O' Farrell and Larkin streets, for Gabriel Ramirez. After the memorial, the archbishop offered his thoughts on the ... more Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close SF archbishop on Trump: Church will aid undocumented immigrants 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

The archbishop of San Francisco said Friday afternoon that the Catholic Church is mobilizing to help immigrants without documentation brace for President Trump’s crackdown.

Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone said the church will ensure that immigrants “know their rights” and will be “protected.”

Cordileone made his comments while conducting a prayer service at a bus stop where Gabriel Ramirez, a 61-year-old man, was slain earlier this month. The man, who identified as Native American, died after a beating by a group of men and Cordileone’s appearance was part of a prayer service routine the church holds for homicide victims.

Trump, Cordileone said with an uneasy chuckle, sure “hit the ground running.” He said he is troubled by the actions the president has taken on immigration.

Though not unexpected, the new policies — which include increased funding for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and guidelines to build the long-promised wall on the Mexican border — made Cordileone “nervous,” he said.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen,” Cordileone said. “He seems to be insisting on focusing on criminals, so hopefully the people who are here, who are working and contributing to society, can continue to be able to do so.”

Immigration is a pressing issue for the Church, which has a history of sheltering and providing refuges for undocumented immigrants and families.

“(Trump) is setting to do what he said he was going to do,” Cordileone said.

Cordileone added that he was heartened to see the president’s support — as expressed in a Friday morning tweet — of the annual March for Life that brought thousands to D.C.’s Washington Monument earlier in the day to protest abortion rights.

A sister march last week took to the streets of San Francisco for the same cause, a day that this year happened to coincide with the Women’s March that filled the streets of cities all over the country.

Cordileone, no stranger to controversy for his socially conservative views that have caused flare-ups in the liberal Bay Area, acknowledged that deportations may be necessary for criminal elements, but cautioned against ICE agents purporting to target criminals and catching other undocumented people in their crosshairs.

On Thursday, a group of ICE agents mistakenly barged into a family center, with a preschool inside, in the Mission, causing first fear and then confusion amongst the neighborhood’s undocumented population and then their allies — and riling up fears that raids were starting.

Michael Bodley is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mbodley@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @michael_bodley