Interfaith Committee for Detained Immigrants

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On any given day, ICE has the capacity to detain over 33,000 immigrants and on any given day, ICE deports 1,100 people from the Untied States. The Interfaith Committee for Detained Immigrants is made up of faith and community based organizations, religious leaders and congregations from Illinois who are called to accompany our immigrant sisters and brothers caught in the detention and deportation system and to work for more just immigration policies.

Projects of the Interfaith Committee for Detained Immigrants

Prayer vigil at Broadview:
Every Friday morning at 7:15am people of faith join together in a prayer vigil at Broadview Immigration Processing Center to support those who are in immigration detention, the families of those in detention and be a public witness to the injustices of our immigration system. Click here for more information

Court watch program:
Students, religious leaders and people of faith serve as a presence in the Detained Immigration Court to let those involved in the court system know that people are watching and care about what happens to our immigrant sisters and brothers. By serving as a public witness we aim to bring transparency to this broken system and educate outside communities about the current conditions of immigrants in detention. It is our goal that through monitoring and documenting our observations we also support the urgent and imperative need for more just immigration policies.
Click here for more information

Interfaith Post Detention Accompaniment Network
In response to the growing needs of people who are released from immigration detention, the Interfaith Committee for Detained Immigrants jointly with Sister and Brothers of Immigrants have developed a response network to accompany men and women who are released from immigration detention.
Click here for more information

Praying on the deportation buses at Broadview:
Each Friday morning buses filled with men and women shackled by
their hands, feet and waists leave for O'Hare airport to be deported. Clergy and Lay leaders offer prayers on the buses to accompany them in their difficult journey and so they know that people of faith stand with them and are working to change these unjust policies.

Praying with detained immigrants inside the Broadview visitation area:
Clergy and Lay leaders go inside of Broadview Detention Center on Friday mornings to pray and visit with people who are getting ready to be deported that morning.

Pastoral care ministry at McHenry County Jail:
McHenry County Jail houses up to 400 detained immigrants under a contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Since Illinois' Access to Religious Ministry Act (HB 4613) became law in December 2008, teams of Clergy and Lay leaders have been going to the jail each Tuesday afternoon to provide pastoral care for the detainees.

For more information and to learn how you can get involved please contact:

Sister JoAnn Persch, Sisters of Mercy, at jpmrsm@comcast.net or 773-779-6011 ex. 3846

To make a donation to support the ministries of the Interfaith Committee for Detained Immigrants:

Make checks payable to "Interfaith Committee for Detained Immigrants" and send to:
c/o Sisters of Mercy Office
Interfaith Committee for Detained Immigrants
10024 S. Central Park Ave.
Chicago, IL 60655

Current members of Interfaith Committee for Detained Immigrants:

8th Day Center for Justice, Chicago New Sanctuary Coalition, Centro de Trabajadores Unidos, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, Office for Immigrant Affairs & Immigration Education of the Archdiocese of Chicago, Sisters and Brothers of Immigrants, Sisters of Mercy, Southwest Organizing Project, West Suburban Action Project - PASO

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