Press Release: In below-zero temperatures, Catholic leaders hand-deliver letter seeking Christmas pastoral access; ICE remains silent
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 19, 2025
In below-zero temperatures, Catholic leaders hand-deliver letter seeking Christmas pastoral access; ICE remains silent
More than 50 clergy, women religious, and coalition members gathered outside DHS Chicago office as delegation delivers letter requesting permission to provide Communion and pastoral care to detainees at Broadview ICE facility on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day
Photos available here
Please credit photos as: courtesy of Bryan Sebastian for the Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership
CHICAGO — In below-zero weather Friday morning, more than 50 Catholic priests, women religious, and members of the Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership (CSPL) gathered outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Chicago Field Office to demand pastoral access to the ICE detention center in Broadview ahead of Christmas.
The gathering began with prayer and song in the Advent season and culminated with a delegation of a priest, a religious sister, and a deacon hand-delivering a formal letter requesting permission to provide pastoral care and Holy Communion to detainees at Broadview on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. Participants stood bundled in hats, scarves, and gloves as they prayed for detained migrants and called on ICE to respect religious freedom and human dignity.
Representatives from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) came outside the building and received the letter directly from the delegation, stating that it would be delivered to ICE. However, as of Friday afternoon, ICE has still not responded to CSPL’s prior written requests submitted on December 17 and December 18, nor has it granted permission for Christmas pastoral access.
“Christmas is the day we celebrate God entering the world in human flesh, a day when no one should be abandoned or left without the comfort of faith,” said Sister Jeremy Midura, a Felician Sister and member of CSPL’s Women Religious Council. “Every human being has a sacred right to pastoral care, especially on Christmas. We followed every required protocol respectfully. But in the face of silence, we are making this request public. We want an answer. We deserve an answer.”
The gathering took place during the final days of Advent, which is the season in the Christian calendar when people prepare for Christmas by waiting, watching, and hoping. It marks the weeks leading up to the celebration of Jesus’ birth and focuses on expectation, repentance, and trust that light and new life are coming, even in darkness.
“We stand together in this holy season of Advent, when Christians wait in hope for God-with-us,” said Father Dan Hartnett, SJ, a Jesuit priest and member of CSPL’s Clergy Council. “Advent is rooted in the truth that God enters human history when people are hurting, displaced, and afraid. And that is exactly what we see today as families are ripped apart during the most sacred weeks of our faith.”
Hartnett continued, “For Catholics, Communion is where we receive the Body of Christ and are united as one family in God. Yet our brothers and sisters detained at Broadview are being denied access to that very Body of Christ. They are denied pastoral care, denied sacraments, denied the presence of Christ in the Eucharist. We cannot be silent while the most basic religious freedoms are trampled.”
CSPL leaders emphasized that pastoral access to the Broadview facility was permitted in prior years and that federal detention standards guarantee detainees the right to religious practice and chaplaincy. While a lawsuit filed by CSPL seeking regular pastoral access at Broadview is currently pending in U.S. District Court, leaders stressed that nothing prevents ICE from granting access on Christmas while litigation continues.
“Those inside Broadview are not numbers, not cases, not paperwork,” Sister Midura said. “They are mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, children of God.”
CSPL and their members will continue with prayer, public witness, and organizing until pastoral access is granted. “We will keep knocking,” Father Hartnett said. “Just as the Holy Family once did.”
About the Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership:
CSPL is a multi-racial, multi-ethnic, multi-generational spiritually rooted coalition of more than 50 parishes, universities, and community organizations that works to transform racial, economic, social, and environmental systems through grassroots coalition building, community organizing, and liberative formation. More at csplaction.org.
Media Contacts:
Sarah Rand, sarah@rand-strategies.com, 312-513-1035
Gordon Mayer, gordon@gordonmayercommunications.com, 312-307-0133
Joanna Arellano-Gonzalez, joanna@csplaction.org, 331-343-7301
