A group of faith leaders on Wednesday attempted to enter an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Chicago but were denied entry, they told reporters.
“Everybody has a right to be treated with dignity, and everybody has a right to share in Christmas joy, in holiday joy,” the Reverend Marshall Hatch of New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church of West Garfield, Illinois, told the Chicago Sun-Times.
Newsweek reached out to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) via email outside normal business hours on Wednesday night for comment.
Why It Matters
ICE and DHS have faced pressure from the religious community in Chicago, with pastors joining demonstrations outside facilities and urging officials to reflect on the treatment of immigrants and refugees.
The Catholic Church has been especially outspoken of the Trump administration and its immigration enforcement policies, describing them as a significant moral and humanitarian concern.
Two churches even installed immigration-themed Nativity scenes: One in Evanston, Illinois, in which the baby Jesus was depicted in zip ties; and another in Dedham, Massachusetts, in which the manger was left empty but for a sign that read “ICE Was Here.”
What To Know
Faith leaders attempted to gain access to the ICE facility in Broadview so they could pray with detainees, trying repeatedly to enter the facility but met opposition each time. They explained that they wanted to offer “pastoral care,” but that did not seem to sway officials.
The Reverend Brendan Curran of the Resurrection Project said members of his organization had sent letters and made calls to DHS officials before reaching the facility, but that appeared to provide little help in making their case.
“We came to simply affirm the dignity of staff and detainees on Christmas Eve. What is so radical about that?” Curran said in response to immigration authorities’ decision to keep the faith leaders out of the facility.
“It is what we do in prisons. It is what we do in jails. It is what we do in our faith communities near and far all over this world, but not at Broadview detention center,” Curran added.
Priests and nuns had been allowed into the facility until the fall, according to ABC7 Chicago.
DHS in a statement previously shared with news outlets described the facility in Broadview as a “field office” and not a detention facility, even as it said that migrants are “briefly held there for processing before being transferred to a detention facility.”
“Religious organizations are more than welcome to provide services to detainees in ICE detention facilities,” the statement read. “Even before the attacks on the Broadview facility, it was not within standard operating procedure for religious services to be provided in a field office, as detainees are continuously brought in, processed, and transferred out.”
What People Are Saying
DHS, in a statement previously provided to the press, in part: “Rioters have repeatedly attacked the Broadview field office and Illinois streets, creating serious safety concerns for personnel and detainees alike. They created serious public safety and officer safety threats: assaulting law enforcement, attacking law enforcement with vehicles, throwing tear gas cans, slashing tires, been arrested with firearms in their possession, blocking the entrance of the building, and trespassing on private property.
“ICE staff has repeatedly informed religious organizations that due to Broadview’s status as a field office and the ongoing threat to civilians, detainees, and officers, they for safety, they are not able to accommodate these requests at this time.”
The Reverend Stephen Josoma, in a previous statement to Newsweek: “Our bishops have spoken out strongly this year on this very topic, which is itself a bit unusual, I suspect, because they recognize the harm it brings to so many. Catholic social justice teaching is also clear and consistent, and our ministry is always guided by that. Our nativity reflects both.”
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