Crime & Law

Faith Leaders Allowed Daily Access to Broadview ICE Facility Under New Agreement

Religious leaders will be allowed to provide spiritual care to detainees held at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center in Broadview under a new agreement reached this month.

Community leaders from the Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership announced they reached an agreement with ICE and the Department of Homeland Security to allow daily pastoral visits inside the west suburban facility. Those visits began last Friday.

“This agreement represents a recognition of the human dignity and basic human rights of our detained sisters and brothers,” CSPL Executive Director Michael N. Okińczyc-Cruz said in a statement.

Civilian access at the controversial processing center had been highly restricted last fall when the detainee population exploded during the Trump administration’s expanded immigration enforcement efforts under “Operation Midway Blitz.”

The facility became the scene of numerous protests over the course of months.

Among the lawsuits filed in response to that limited access was a case brought by the CSPL and other faith leaders who sought to provide spiritual care to those held in Broadview on a daily basis.

In April, a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction sought through that case which blocked ICE’s blanket denial of clergy visitation requests at Broadview, finding that doing so violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

The sides last week then reached an agreement detailing how and when religious leaders may visit the Broadview facility each day.

A DHS spokesperson on Tuesday reiterated that the Broadview facility is a processing center — not a detention center — where people are supposed to be held only for a brief period before being transferred to a more permanent location.

“Religious organizations are more than welcome to provide services to detainees in ICE detention facilities,” the spokesperson said. “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.”

That agreement notes that while ICE agents will make “reasonable efforts to afford a degree of privacy for pastoral communications,” the agents will maintain oversight of the designated areas where visits occur to ensure “safety, security, and orderly operations.”

Visitations began last Friday, but CSPL officials noted that the agreement is not a permanent resolution and lasts only through the “pendency of this litigation.” The court has requested a status update in July.

---