Natalie Romano

With Communion bowls in hand, a group of California bishops walked through the barbed wire gates of the ICE Processing Center and offered Jesus to the men locked inside. This moment of the Mass, celebrated Dec. 10 outside the town of Adelanto in the Mojave Desert, was deeply emotional for both the bishops and the roughly 300 detainees present.

For decades, Altadena has been a diverse hamlet that boasted higher than average Black home ownership, thriving Black small businesses, and churches with ministries that specifically serve Black Catholics. But now, in the wake of such devastation, local leaders recognize Altadena faces a daunting challenge: retaining its identity in the face of a very real chasm between residents' desire to stay, and the financial ability to stay.