Religious Ministry Access at Broadview

Religious Ministry at Broadview Immigration Detention and Processing Center

After two and a half years of vigils, religious leaders negotiated access to the Broadview Detention Center and have begun praying on the buses Friday mornings with immigrants on their way to being deported.

Immigrants arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are held at the Broadview facility before they are either sent to a long-term detention facility or sent to the airport to be deported. While they await deportation, some detainees experience isolation, depression and other emotional hardship. And for those whose children are U.S. citizens, detention means long-term family separation. Community and religious leaders say offering spiritual support will help immigrant detainees through what can be an emotionally painful process.

On this episode of Community, Media & You, we'll hear more about the victory at Broadview and how to improve our nation's immigration system. Here on the show is Jenny Dale of the Chicago New Sanctuary Coalition, Flavia Jimenez and Salvador Cervantes of the Illinois Coalition of Immigrant and Refugee Rights.

Click here to watch the show: Broadview: Illinois' Immigrant Detention Center