Catholic faith coalition sues ICE after clergy barred from Broadview facility Communion visits, alleging religious freedom violations as federal court probes squalid conditions and enforcement surges.
Newsroom (20/11/2025 Gaudium Press ) A coalition of Catholic leaders filed a federal lawsuit November 19 against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), accusing the agency of violating constitutional and statutory religious freedoms by barring clergy from entering its Broadview, Illinois, processing facility to administer Holy Communion and provide pastoral care to detainees.
The complaint, lodged in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, invokes the First Amendment, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA). Plaintiffs say ICE’s abrupt policy shift ended a decades-long practice of allowing faith leaders inside the suburban Chicago facility.
“Despite the long history of religious access to the Broadview detention center… recent months have brought shifting, contradictory, and often opaque communication from DHS and ICE officials,” said Michael N. Okińczyc-Cruz, executive director of the Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership. “Faced with this lack of honesty and transparency, we were left with no choice but to file this lawsuit.”
The suit follows a November 1 incident in which Chicago Auxiliary Bishop José María García-Maldonado and other clergy were denied entry despite weeks of advance requests. Leaders had sought to distribute Communion and pray with migrants held at the facility.
DHS Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Communications Nate Madden, asked November 17 whether only a court order would restore access, told Catholic News Agency, “I will not engage in hypotheticals about Broadview’s policies.” Madden encouraged faith leaders to contact ICE directly for entry procedures.
The religious-access case intersects with separate ongoing litigation over detainee treatment at the same facility. U.S. District Judge Robert W. Gettleman — a 1994 Clinton appointee — this week granted class-action status to a suit alleging inhumane conditions, potentially covering hundreds of current and future detainees.
Gettleman earlier issued a temporary restraining order requiring ICE to supply soap, towels, toothbrushes, toothpaste, menstrual products, three nutritionally adequate meals daily, and free bottled water. A hearing originally set for November 19 was postponed to evaluate compliance but has been postponed until December after detainee numbers reportedly dropped sharply.
The judge has not yet ruled on religious-accommodation claims raised in the conditions lawsuit, which notes that clergy “who have provided religious services at Broadview for years… are now denied the ability to provide pastoral care.”
DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin has maintained that Broadview is a “field office,” not a formal detention center, while asserting that religious organizations remain welcome to serve detainees in ICE custody.
Pope Leo XIV, speaking earlier this month, urged authorities to permit pastoral visits, saying detained migrants’ “spiritual needs should be attended to” after long separations from family.
Nationwide, Catholic bishops have intensified calls for migrant dignity amid heightened enforcement under the second Trump administration, which in January rescinded “sensitive location” guidelines that previously limited ICE operations at churches.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on November 12 overwhelmingly approved (216-5, with three abstentions) a statement opposing “indiscriminate mass deportation.” Pope Leo XIV on November 18 praised the message, criticizing treatment of long-term residents as “extremely disrespectful” and noting reports of violence.
In North Carolina, Bishop Michael T. Martin of Charlotte on November 18 granted a Mass dispensation to anyone fearing deportation, declaring such circumstances “beyond your control.” He designated November 21 a diocesan day of prayer and fasting for migrants and urged Catholics to contact lawmakers for comprehensive reform while refraining from vilifying federal agents.
The moves follow DHS’s launch of “Operation Charlotte’s Web,” which the department says targets “the worst of the worst” criminal non-citizens. As of November 17, the operation had resulted in more than 130 arrests.
Martin, currently in Rome, said Wednesday he planned to meet Pope Leo XIV Thursday to request prayers for his diocese “especially during this challenging time.”
Legal experts say the Broadview religious-freedom suit could set precedent for pastoral access rights in short-term ICE holding facilities nationwide, as immigration enforcement intensifies and detainee spiritual needs collide with agency security protocols.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from CNA
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