Clergy Granted Ongoing Access to Chicago-Area ICE Facility

The US Department of Homeland Security can’t bar clergy from visiting an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the Chicago suburbs, a federal judge ruled.

A group of religious leaders who sued for access to the Broadview, Ill., building must be allowed to visit detainees each day as long as the case is pending, Judge Robert Gettleman of the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois said in a preliminary injunction order Tuesday.

Gettleman had previously ordered the government to grant clergy access on Ash Wednesday and during Holy Week. The Trump administration strenuously opposed the access, saying Broadview is intended as a short-term holding facility and the priests were free to visit detainees instead at longer-term custodial buildings out of state.

In a status report filed Monday, plaintiffs said religious leaders from multiple denominations ministered to Broadview detainees on Easter and during the preceding Holy Week holidays. They washed detainees’ feet, sang hymns, and distributed literature, they said.

While the detainees were appreciative and the clergy found the services meaningful, the agents insisted on keeping some detainees handcuffed and shackled, citing understaffing and security concerns.

That was unnecessary and dehumanizing, the plaintiffs said, describing one detainee who was “looking at his handcuffs as if he could not believe what was happening.”

They also objected to the way detainees were told about their presence. Gettleman had ordered the facility to allow one member of the clergy to address detainees as a group to explain their visit, which didn’t happen in at least one of the visits, they said. And on some days, an ICE agent spoke to detainees about the clergy visit before the clergy did, which may have affected participation, they said: “It was clear to the clergy that how their presence is announced makes a difference.”

In their status report, DHS apologized for the ICE personnel introducing the visitors in breach of the court’s order and said it was due to a misunderstanding.

Gettleman’s recent order required attorneys on both sides to meet and confer about appropriate safety protocols for the daily visits.

Plaintiffs, a coalition of religious leaders, sued in November, saying they were improperly denied access to the Broadview facility even though clergy had regularly been allowed to visit before Trump initiated his aggressive Chicago-area deportation effort.

The Broadview facility was also the target of a class suit brought on behalf of detainees, alleging filthy, overcrowded conditions and a lack of basic food and hygiene supplies. Gettleman signed a temporary restraining order mandating better conditions and facilitating attorney-client calls. That suit was scheduled for a preliminary injunction hearing this month but instead is proceeding toward a possible settlement.

Plaintiffs are represented by Despres Schwartz & Geoghegan and Pomerantz LLP.

The case is Coal. for Spiritual and Pub. Leadership v. Noem, N.D. Ill., No. 1:25-cv-14168, order 4/7/26.