Catholic leaders sue Trump administration for denying entry to ICE facility to give Communion

Catholic leaders have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration for denying clergy entry into an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Ill., to give Communion to detainees.

The lawsuit filed on Wednesday alleges that ICE's refusal to let Catholic clergy pray with or offer Communion to detainees violates the First Amendment, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, Catholic News Agency reported.

On Nov. 1, Catholic spiritual leaders attempted to bring Communion to detainees at the ICE facility after making formal requests to the Department of Homeland Security and ICE, and officials denied entry. Auxiliary Bishop José María García-Maldonado and others were not admitted, despite requesting access weeks earlier and attempting to follow DHS guidelines.

“Despite the long history of religious access to the Broadview detention center established through the persistence and perseverance of the late Sister JoAnn Persch, RSM, and Sister Pat Murphy, RSM, recent months have brought shifting, contradictory, and often opaque communication from DHS and ICE officials. Faced with this lack of honesty and transparency, we were left with no choice but to file this lawsuit,” Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership Executive Director Michael N. Okińczyc-Cruz said in a statement.  

DHS principal deputy assistant secretary for communications, Nate Madden, told CNA on Monday when asked whether it would take a judge’s order to get Communion to detainees at the ICE facility, “I will not engage in hypotheticals about Broadview’s policies.

“What we say is that all religious leaders and religious people who want to come and take pastoral care, and they want to take Communion or Bible studies or anything like that, to come into our detention facilities, they can reach out to ICE,” he added.

According to the detainees’ lawyers, “For many years, faith leaders and members of the clergy … provided pastoral care to individuals detained inside Broadview. Now, no one is allowed inside Broadview. Faith leaders seeking to provide religious services are blocked from providing Communion and spiritual support to detainees, even from outside.”