Support Religious Workers' Access to Immigrant Detainees in County Jails
Immigration rights groups here in Illinois have been working on a bill to ensure religious workers' access to immigrant detainees in County jails. They've passed it unanimously in the House and are now working to pass it in the Senate. Today the bill will go to committee, then Thursday on to the Senate floor.
Phone calls to Senator Kirk Dillard and Senator A.J. Wilhelmi are especially important if you are within their districts. Both serve on the Criminal Judiciary Committee which it must pass through, with Senator Wilhelmi the chair.
Please call! Your voice is needed to protect religious access to immigrant detainees!
Call:
Senator Kirk Dillard
217-782-8148
Senator Wilhelmi
(217) 782-8800
Message: Hello, I am __________ with the _______ church in___(suburb)______. I'm calling to urge Senator ______ to support HB 4613. This bill is important in safeguarding religious access to immigrant detainees. All inmates should have the right to receive religious or spiritual counsel while in prison! So I urge Senator ______ to use his leadership to help to pass the bill out of committee and the Senate this week! I would like a call back personally from the Senator if possible on this issue. My phone number is ____________.
If you have any questions or concerns about this bill contact Ashley Moy-Wooten, Suburban Organizer Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights c/o Mt Carmel Church,
407 Irving St, Joliet, IL 60432
815 727 7187 (office) or 773 987 7767 (cell)
BACKGROUNDER: (from the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights)
Support the Access to Religious Ministry Act
HB 4613
Why do we even need this bill?
Immigration detainees in Illinois county jails receive limited (if any) access to spiritual counsel. McHenry County offers religious services, but the time when religious workers can provide consultations with the detainees is limited to one hour every two weeks. Tri-County does not provide such times, and even counts visits by clergy members during visitation hours against the number and length of visits allowed under regular visitation.
Aren’t we talking about illegal aliens who have been convicted of serious crimes?
Many (if not most) of the detainees are either people fleeing persecution who are seeking political asylum, or individuals who have been caught in workplace raids. In any event, even those who have been convicted of crimes have spiritual needs that we should address. Why else, after all, would be provide prison ministry to convicts?
Isn’t this special treatment for immigrants?
The Access to Religious Ministry Act seeks merely to provide the same religious ministry for immigration detainees that state prisons and county jails provide to people in criminal custody. We are seeking the same treatment, not special treatment.
What’s to prevent people off the street from going into the jails under the bill?
The bill specifies that only clergy, members of religious orders, and lay volunteers affiliated with bona fide religious organizations can participate. Congregation members who are serious about their faith and who would want to take the time to meet with detainees should be able to do so. These individuals would come in through their churches and pastors—they would not come in on their own.
What’s to prevent representatives from radical religious sects from going into the jails?
The first consideration under this bill is the safety and security of the jail and the inmates inside. Jail administrators would check on who is seeking admission to the jail under this Act, and screen out anyone who would disrupt the safe operation of the jail.
Doesn’t this bill allow these religious workers to just roam the halls of the jail?
Again, the first consideration is the safety and security of the jail and its inmates. The consultations would take place at locations and times set by the jail administration. In no way does the bill offer unlimited access to the jail or detainees.
It is morally wrong to deny immigrant detainees access to religious ministry.
The General Assembly should pass the Access to Religious Ministry Act.
