Clergy seek court order to allow pastoral access to immigrants held at Minneapolis ICE facility
Protestant and Catholic clergy are seeking a federal court order to mandate pastoral access to immigrants held at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis. Attorneys for several church bodies are suing the Department of Homeland Security officials for an injunction to allow prompt in-person pastoral visits to all detainees. The lawsuit claims the Whipple building, the site of a federal enforcement surge, represents a deprivation of constitutional and legal rights. Government attorneys argue the request is partly moot because Operation Metro Surge officially ended in February, and clergy visits have recently been permitted. Clergy nationwide are increasing efforts to gain access to immigration detention facilities, particularly during religious seasons like Lent and Ramadan.
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Protestant and Catholic clergy, including branches of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, United Church of Christ, and a Catholic priest, sued the Department of Homeland Security for blocking pastoral access to immigrants at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis.1 3 5
The facility served as a hub during Operation Metro Surge, involving 3,000 federal officers, amid protests and reports of poor conditions.1
U.S. District Judge Jerry Blackwell heard arguments on March 20, 2026, from clergy attorneys alleging violations of religious freedom under the Constitution and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.1 3
Clergy cited denials on Ash Wednesday and other occasions, seeking prompt in-person visits for prayer and sacraments.1 5
Blackwell granted the injunction, ruling that clergy must have access and that barring visits constitutes irreparable harm to religious exercise.3 5
He prohibited protocols barring all clergy visits, ordered a written access plan with reasonable security measures, and required a joint status report by April 2.3 5
DHS argued the case was moot post-Operation Metro Surge (ended February 12), with eased restrictions and recent clergy allowances at the short-term holding site.1 3
Official Tauria Rich noted case-by-case handling and rare visitors, emphasizing operational challenges during unrest.1
Bishop Jennifer Nagel of the ELCA Minneapolis Synod, denied entry on Ash Wednesday, stressed ministry as core to faith amid detainee trauma.3
Attorney Erin Westbrook highlighted pastoral care's role in addressing detainees' fear and isolation.5
Similar struggles occurred nationwide, including lawsuits for Ash Wednesday access in Chicago's Broadview facility and Texas ICE sites during Lent and Ramadan.1 3
Minnesota Congress members and attorneys faced entry barriers; a separate judge ordered counsel access.1 3
Catholic, Episcopal bishops, Jewish clergy, and the Minnesota Council of Churches backed the suit; the courtroom filled with diverse faith leaders.1 3
The building's namesake, Bishop Henry Whipple, contrasted with alleged rights deprivations.1 3
Catholic doctrine mandates pastoral care for detained immigrants
Catholic doctrine indeed mandates pastoral care for detained immigrants, grounding this obligation in the inherent dignity of every human person, the Gospel command to visit those in prison (Mt 25:36), and the Church's social teaching on migrants and refugees. This care extends spiritual assistance, defense of dignity, and promotion of integral human development, even in detention settings, while balancing national rights to secure borders with humane treatment. The Church views detained immigrants not merely as legal cases but as brothers and sisters in Christ, calling for accompaniment amid vulnerability.
The mandate begins with Christ's identification with the imprisoned: "I was in prison and you visited me" (Mt 25:36), a criterion for judgment that applies universally, including to detained migrants. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) emphasizes that respect for the human person considers the other "another self," presupposing fundamental rights from intrinsic dignity. All share equal dignity as created in God's image, redeemed by Christ, and called to divine beatitude.
Social justice requires pursuing the common good through institutions that uphold human conditions, with the person as society's ultimate end. For migrants, this means protection from exploitation and integration respecting dignity, including family reunification. Detention must safeguard public safety without deterrence or punishment as primary aims, favoring alternatives like community programs.
The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church addresses prisons directly: punishment serves public order, offender correction, expiation, re-insertion, and restorative justice. Prison chaplains play a key role in defending detainees' dignity, countering environments where crimes recur, and witnessing Christian concern. This applies to detained immigrants, as the Compendium urges equitable immigration regulation and receiving immigrants as persons.
Pope Francis reinforces this in Evangelii Gaudium: migrants challenge the Church to recognize the suffering Christ in the vulnerable, exhorting generous openness for integration. In his 2024 address to Scalabrinians, he stresses welcoming, accompanying, promoting, and integrating migrants—sons and daughters of migrants himself—amid solitude and injustice that breed despair. Nations like Italy "need migrants" demographically, requiring truthful discourse on integration.
The USCCB's Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship explicitly mandates care for "those unnecessarily detained" among newcomers, authorized or not, including refugees and trafficking victims. Comprehensive reform should ensure due process, worker protections, and refuge from persecution, pursued humanely.
Structures like the Pontifical Council (now Dicastery) for Migrants ensure "effective and special spiritual care" for refugees, exiles, and migrants via pastoral structures, including Apostleship of the Sea and awareness on World Migration Day. John Paul II urged states to ratify migrant rights conventions and promoted renewed pastoral care "starting afresh from Christ."
The Dicastery's Pastoral Orientations on Intercultural Migrant Ministry (2022) outlines welcome, protect, promote, integrate as Church commitments, fostering intercultural parishes and training for ministers. It calls for full Church membership for migrants, rethinking parishes as "on the move," avoiding second-class status.
Practical examples illustrate implementation:
These align with the Church's social pastoral ministry as evangelization, enlightening social realities with Christ's love.
While doctrine mandates care, it recognizes states' rights to control borders justly. Not all detention is "unnecessary," but conditions must respect dignity. Episcopal Conferences apply teachings locally. Controversy arises in balancing security and hospitality, but higher authority (encyclicals, CCC) prioritizes dignity; recency (e.g., Francis 2024) emphasizes integration needs.
Pastoral care includes sacraments, counseling, rights advocacy, and family support, training clergy as cultural mediators. The Church cannot perform state functions but witnesses mercy.
In summary, Catholic doctrine unequivocally mandates pastoral care for detained immigrants as an expression of charity, dignity defense, and Gospel fidelity. This calls the faithful to action: support chaplains, advocate humane policies, and welcome strangers locally, transforming societies through hope-filled integration.