As word spread among Catholics that immigration agents were visiting places of worship to carry out deportations, the pews inside the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels Catholic Church in downtown Los Angeles became less and less crowded.

At least two Catholic dioceses have told migrants fearful of being arrested in immigration raids outside church that they do not have to attend Sunday Mass. San Bernardino Bishop Alberto Rojas, who leads more than 1.

Bishop Alberto Rojas of the Diocese of San Bernardino lifted the obligation to attend Mass for anyone who had a “genuine fear of immigration enforcement actions.”