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| Proposed Law Allows Religious Access to Federal Inmates in County Jails |
A new Illinois law will allow access by religious ministers to county jails where federal immigration detainees are held.
Two Illinois jails -- the McHenry County Jail in Woodstock and the Tri-County Detention Center in Ullin -- hold several hundred detainees on behalf of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The new law, starting June 1, requires these facilities to allow religious counselors to meet the detainees.
Sister JoAnn Persch of the Sisters of Mercy, who has been counseling immigration detainees for years, says at times, the operators of these facilities have either denied access to religious counselors, or placed burdensome restrictions on them that make it virtually impossible for them to enter and meet with the detainees.
The detainees typically are awaiting adjudication of the immigration charges against them. Those who have already been determined to be in violation are often then sent to Broadview to await deportation. This law does not apply to Broadview, because it is a federal facility.
The law passed both the Illinois House and Illinois Senate unanimously. It provides for "reasonable access" to the detention facilities for religious workers, that immigration detainees be notified in advance of the availability of religious counselors, that access by the detainees shall not be denied or limited without good cause, and that consultation with religious counselors shall not count against the visitation time or number of visits to which a detainee is otherwise entitled.
The McHenry County Jail has a typical daily immigrant detainee population of around 400. In Ullin, the daily count is around 350, according to the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.
(Illinois Radio Network) |
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| 02 23 09 by Newsroom |
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