Dios te salve María…Diego, Rocio, Manuel…
Rosary at Broadview, IL, Immigrant Detention Center

On Friday, May 29, the SIMN Directors, fr. Leonir Chiarello, c.s. and Fr. Ezio Marchetto, c.s., joined about fifty religious, priests, activists and lay people in front of the Broadview, IL, Immigrant Detention Center, in Chicago’s suburbs, to pray the rosary. On this occasion there were five Scalabrinian missionaries present. For over two years now, the faithful have been gathering every Friday early in the morning, in front of the immigrant detention center to pray the rosary. It is a powerful expression of solidarity and prayerful support for our immigrant brothers and sisters in Christ as they are being loaded onto buses for deportation from the U.S. The gathering, led by women religious of the Sisters and Brothers of Immigrants organization , is orderly and peaceful; all participants stay outside physical boundaries established by the Broadview facility. The public rosary lasts about a half hour and draws attention to a U.S. immigrant detention system that deprives detained immigrants, who have not violated any criminal law, protection of basic liberties afforded inmates in the criminal system. The unjust system of detention, which can become indefinite without recourse to remedy, falls under the radar screen of most of the American public.

It was a moving and powerful experience. The rosary started at 7:15 am. It was prayed in English, Spanish and Polish. Toward the end of the rosary we could see through the barbed-wired fence, the immigrants, with their hands and feet shackled, being loaded into the vans – on this occasion three vans and one minibus took away sixty-five Latino immigrants. From the detention center they would be driven to the airport, flown to El Paso, Texas and from there they would be walked across the border and released near Ciudad Juarez, Jalisco, Mexico.

Once outside the facilities the vans stopped and one priest and one religious sister were briefly allowed on board. Fr. Claudio Holzer, c.s., informed the deportees that on their arrival in Mexico they would be met by a representative of the Casa del Migrante who would take care of them. At this news a cheer went up, but soon it died down and as they were invited to say a prayer together, led by Sr. JoAnn Persch of the Sisters of Mercy of America, tears began streaming down their cheeks. They were all young men realizing that their dreams were now crushed; some were leaving their families behind; all were facing a difficult future. The scene was repeated three more times and then the motorcade drove off. There was a profound sense of sadness and it was impossible to avoid the question: what is this nonsense all about?

For more information about this event and other initiatives of the Catholic Campaign for Immigration Reform, contact: holzerclaudio@comcast.net