A group of faith leaders is suing the Trump administration for repeatedly preventing them from administering communion and praying with detainees in the Broadview ICE detention facility outside of Chicago. 

The Broadview facility has become a source of contention between faith leaders and the Trump Administration. Earlier this month, a local outlet reported a federal official told faith leaders there would be “no more prayer in front of [the] building or inside the building because this is the state and it’s not [of a] religious background.”

ICE officials have insisted that ministers can access detention facilities only if they reach out to the agency. But clergy members say they have repeatedly been denied access by officials who cite “safety and security concerns.”

On Wednesday, a group of Catholic faith leaders filed a lawsuit alleging that the refusal by ICE officials to let clergy members into the Broadview facility to administer communion and pray with detainees violates the First Amendment, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.

The complaint notes that ICE officials did not let clergy members distribute communion to detainees on October 11. The Department of Homeland Security stated that faith leaders must submit such a request at least one week in advance. 

On October 24, the plaintiffs submitted a letter to ICE requesting permission to hold a mass and administer communion to the detainees a week later, on November 1. However, officials again rejected the request, citing “safety and security concerns.”

The lawsuit asks the court to declare that the government is denying the plaintiffs and detainees the right to practice their religion, and order the government to allow the clergy members access to the Broadview facility to administer communion. 

The executive director of the Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership, Michael Okińczyc-Cruz, said in a statement, “Despite the long history of religious access to the Broadview detention center established through the persistence and perseverance of the late Sister JoAnn Persch, RSM, and Sister Pat Murphy, RSM, recent months have brought shifting, contradictory, and often opaque communication from DHS and ICE officials.”

“Faced with this lack of honesty and transparency, we were left with no choice but to file this lawsuit,” Mr. Okińczyc-Cruz said.

ICE did not respond to the Sun’s request for comment by the time of publication. 

Last week, roughly two dozen people, including a minister, were arrested as they protested outside the Broadview facility.