Hundreds participate in procession to Broadview ICE facility

For member Dave Linhares, the recent ICE raids and arrests hit him to the core, he said. Linhares, who has worked with migrant families in the past, said the procession honoring detainees was one way to get involved and contribute.

“Obviously it was a focus and it was horrifying, but it was also empowering to know that there was a large community here that was willing to fight back,” Linhares said.

Organizer and Spiritual and Community Leadership Coalition Executive Director Michael Okinchick-Cruz said the purpose of the march was for participants to share the sacrament and provide hope and support to those held at the facility.

This is an attempt to shed light on what he called the inhumanity in the detention center and is present in “Operation Midway Blitz”. the Trump administration's plan to bring more federal agents to Chicago.

“This ICE operation throughout Chicago, the city and the suburbs has traumatized families, people who are just trying to live a decent life: working, going to school, earning a living, putting food on the table, going to church,” Ocinczyk-Cruz said. “So many people's lives have been turned upside down… it's just scandalous.”

Before the march, participants prayed and listened to comments from religious and political leaders, including Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, who sympathized with the families of the detainees.

“I can't imagine the fear that some of them live with every single day: one wrong move, one wrong turn, and your life in the United States is over…we are better than this as a nation,” he said.

“We need to stand up for each other, protect each other and respect due process, and make sure that in the process we remind people that fear and hate are not part of America. We are a nation that stands together, and we can overcome, just like we can.”

Eucharistic leaders asked to be allowed into the building, but were refused. The Rev. Larry Dowling called the decision disappointing. Instead, the gatherers held a mass communion near the site. Communion is always a sign of hope and faith for people, something the group was unable to provide today, Dowling said.

“What we experienced today was really a denial of even the opportunity to bring God's love and the presence of Christ, an extraordinary gift that many there cherished,” Dowling said.

Despite Saturday's layoff, the coalition and other faith groups said they plan to continue their efforts. “We're going to do a lot more,” Dowling said, smiling. – Whatever it takes.

Echoing the priests who spoke earlier in the day, member Linhares added that the lack of communion did not mean the group had failed.

“It’s easy to feel powerless, but … we have strength in numbers, and the more we can form community, organize, come together, be relentless and put fear and hate next to love, I think that’s the only way to take action,” Linhares said. “I encourage everyone to get involved rather than sit back and be complicit.”