Faith Leaders Denied Communion at Broadview ICE Facility for Second Time

Two thousand individuals gathered outside the Broadview ICE facility Nov. 1 for a People’s Mass organized by the Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership (CSPL). 

During the mass, delegations requested entry to deliver communion to detained individuals. ICE denied them for a second time. 

The People’s Mass builds on CSPL’s earlier action Oct. 11 where after a eucharistic procession to the Broadview facility, ICE denied access to provide communion. 

Loyola pastoral studies professor and CSPL co-founder Michael Okińczyc-Cruz said the delegation has reached out to both ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) seeking permission for priests and nuns to enter the Broadview facility to offer communion. 

“DHS recently stated that they need a week’s notice to be let inside,” Okińczyc-Cruz said. “We sent a formal letter to DHS requesting permission with over a week’s notice.”

The request came as part of CSPL’s broader mission — a Catholic-rooted coalition dedicated to justice, liberation theology and community organizing.

Co-founder and Director of Spiritual and Theological Formation at CSPL Joanna Arellano-Gonzalez said when threats of National Guard deployment began in early September, CSPL began to plan for different People’s Masses.

“How are we going to respond in this moment when there’s such an attack on our immigrant brothers and sisters,” Arellano-Gonzalez said. “That’s really where the idea for The People’s Mass that we held on Sept. 13 at the naval base came from.”

The Nov. 1 event followed growing reports of inhumane conditions inside Broadview. 

The American Civil Liberties Union discovered overcrowded rooms, lack of medical access, unsanitary environments and denial of religious practice, The Associated Press reported.

“They keep the lights on all day and night, making it impossible for people to sleep,” Arellano-Gonzalez said. “They’re given aluminum foil blankets, and detainees reported that the floors are so disgusting they can’t even lay down, so they just stand up for hours and hours on end.”

Arellano-Gonzalez said Chicago has a long history of immigration rights advocacy and mentioned Harold Washington’s passing of the 1985 Welcoming City Ordinance. 

The Welcoming City Ordinance made Chicago a sanctuary city for immigrants, but the designation has recently been under attack from President Donald Trump, The Associated Press reported. 

Two decades later, Arellano-Gonzalez said the city became a focal point for immigration reform efforts once again during the 2006 marches. 

The 2006 marches for immigration were a series of protests to the proposed H.R. 4437 bill, which would’ve increased penalties for undocumented immigrants and those who helped aid them.

“We’re such a justice-oriented city — we have a much longer history of immigration rights,” Arellano-Gonzalez said.

Almost two decades later, faith leaders, students and community members gathered outside the facility to attempt to bring communion and faith to those inside. 

The mass opened with Aztec dancers and a procession of over 50 priests, deacons and women religious. 

During the height of the service, a delegation of faith leaders walked 100 yards from the altar to the front of the facility where their requests to provide communion were rejected. 

Philosophy Ph.D. student and member of CSPL’s clergy council David Inczauskis said the denial is very unusual, as it’s something the Catholic Church does every day throughout the world. 

“Before the Trump administration, Catholics were allowed into those very sites in order to offer spiritual care and communion,” Inczauskis, a Catholic priest, said. “The Department of Homeland Security has run out of excuses.”

However, Inczauskis said he was proud to see the turnout when it came to Loyola participation. 

Among the crowd of 2,000 were more than 20 students from Loyola, organized by fourth-year history major Harry Brooker and fourth-year psychology major Amy Abueg. The two students organized students through Campus Ministry and the Department of Theology. Coordinated emails from Inczauskis, Brooker and Master of Divinity student Katie Wojda encouraged attendance and provided transportation. 

“My goal is to build more community and keep Loyola students educated in different forms of protest — and how things look that aren’t just marches,” Brooker said. “Situations like this, where we can bring spirituality to people who are suffering — or hope to bring spirituality to people who are suffering — are necessary.”

Abueg said the transportation and outreach efforts she coordinated with Brooker were essential to building community power.

“There’s fulfillment in sharing that experience with other students,” Abueg said. “Especially new students I’d never met before who are part of the Loyola community and passionate about the cause.”

Jesuit brother and instructor in the School of Environmental Sustainability Mark Mackey said the event offered a meaningful way to connect faith and action. 

“It was definitely a mix of emotions,” Mackey said. “A lot of people are carrying grief and anger about the state of immigration and about how ICE operates. For me, this gathering was a way to process that — to act, to pray, to show up in community.”

Mackey said it felt powerful to experience church as a shared act of solidarity where there were moments of consolation and sadness. 

“Many of us wished we could do more, something tangible to change the systemic issues,” Mackey said. “From a faith perspective, this is one important way we can respond.”

Mathematics, environmental studies, statistics and Spanish major Maggie Gonzalez said she wants to try to help protect people who come from families like hers. 

“My dad was an immigrant, my grandparents were immigrants,” Gonzalez said. “Luckily, they’re all citizens now, so we personally feel safe, but I know that’s not the case for so many people.”

Gonzalez said adhering to the guiding principles of the church meant standing for immigrants.

“We’re supposed to treat everyone with respect — treat everyone like they’re our siblings,” Gonzalez said. “I think that’s such a guiding principle for a lot of religions, not just Catholicism.”

Gonzalez said she hopes the individuals detained inside understand they’re not alone. 

“I’m sure before they were taken, they saw all these hateful things being said in the media,” Gonzalez said. “They’ve seen ICE’s presence and politicians supporting and fueling this.”

Mackey said he reflected on what it would mean to be inside the facility. 

“I tried to imagine myself on the inside — in that dark, confusing, despairing place — and thought how meaningful it would be to know people cared enough to show up physically,” Mackey said. “In Catholic tradition, the sacraments are tangible signs of grace. That’s what this was — we were bringing the presence of the Church as close as we could get, in solidarity.” 

Arellano-Gonzalez said CSPL may pursue legal action in response to ICE’s refusal to allow pastoral care inside the facility, and they continue to share skills with parishes to help them respond to ICE presence.

Brooker said as long as there’s ICE presence in the city, there will be more of these events and he hopes the student body keeps showing up.

“We are united in Christ. We will not stop denouncing the evil of detention and deportation. We cannot be silent in the face of oppression. We will persist until justice flows freely like a river,” Inczauskis wrote in a statement.