A lawsuit filed Monday against the Department of Homeland Security accuses federal agents at the Bishop Henry Whipple Building in Minneapolis of barring faith leaders from offering prayer and pastoral guidance to detainees.
Denying people in custody from receiving ministry or spiritual comfort is a violation of the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the suit says.
Groundwork Legal and Saul Ewing are representing the Minneapolis Area Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Minnesota Conference of the United Church of Christ and Father Christopher Collins, a Jesuit priest. The DHS, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and Immigration and Customs Enforcement Head Todd Lyons are among those listed as defendants.
The Whipple Building near Fort Snelling serves as the epicenter of ICE’s operations in Minnesota. Rep. Kelly Morrison, who visited the site earlier this month, said she saw people in leg shackles on cold cement floors with no beds or blankets.
According to the lawsuit, faith leaders have been leading prayer vigils at the Whipple Building since at least 2018.
In December, during the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Collins attempted to enter Whipple to pray for a woman, but he was blocked from accessing the building and ministering, the lawsuit says.
Last week on Ash Wednesday, a reverend attempted to provide care and impose ashes on the holy day of prayer, but was denied access. The lawsuit says she was directed to an ICE waiting room and was told by a federal employee that she would not be permitted to access anyone inside for “security” and “safety” reasons.
The employee said that faith leaders had tried to enter the building four times a week since the onset of Operation Metro Surge, but had been denied each time, according to the suit. A clergy member attempted to provide care as recently as Monday morning, but was denied.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security in a written statement about the lawsuit said, “The Whipple Federal Building is not a detention facility—it is a field office. Illegal aliens are only briefly held there for processing before being transferred to a detention facility. Religious organizations are more than welcome to provide services to detainees in ICE detention facilities. It is not within standard operating procedure for religious services to be provided in a field office, as detainees are continuously brought in, processed, and transferred out.”
“Constitutional rights do not disappear at the doors of the Whipple,” said Irina Vaynerman, CEO of Groundwork Legal. “The way we treat those in detention or facing deportation is one of the true litmus tests of our democracy. Pastoral care allows for detainees to be treated with humanity, instead of being treated like inventory.”
Conditions at the Whipple building have been under scrutiny since the beginning of the federal government’s enhanced immigration enforcement operation in the state. U.S. citizens who have been taken into custody at the site have described agonizing cries coming from other detainees inside the building, including children.
A recent lawsuit accused federal agents of denying detainees access to a lawyer, prompting a federal judge to order the DHS to give immigrants immediate access to legal assistance before they are transferred out of the state.
Last week during a Congressional oversight visit, Reps. Ilhan Omar and Angie Craig said the building was “completely empty,” as ICE had moved detainees into certain county jails.
Aki Nace
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