Religious Workers Gain More Time with Immigrants Facing Deportation

I met the following folks just as I was being released from McHenry County Jail last spring. These guys are my heroes!

Original story, Chicago Tribune:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-religious-visits-18-feb18,0,4235959.story
Law allows religious workers more time with jailed immigrants awaiting deportation

By Antonio Olivo Tribune reporter
February 18, 2009

Chicago-area religious persons began training volunteers Tuesday to take advantage of a new Illinois law allowing for more clergy visits to jailed immigrants awaiting deportation, an effort they say will shed more light on prison conditions faced by that population.Scheduled to go into effect in June, the Access to Religious Ministry Act will ensure detained immigrants inside state and county jails housing those caught in federal raids the same access to clergy as those imprisoned for other crimes, said state Sen. Iris Martinez (D-Chicago), who co-sponsored a bill that passed both state houses unanimously in December.

Currently, religious visits for the rotating group of about 750 illegal immigrants who await deportation in Illinois jails every day is restricted to two hours or less per month, said Sister JoAnn Persch, whose Sisters of Mercy order spearheaded the new law.Consequently, visiting clergy have often had to rush their spiritual counseling for severe depression or intense anxiety after federal arrests, with even less time to attend to complaints about mistreatment during incarceration, she said.

"One week, we saw 70 detainees in little over an hour" inside McHenry County Jail, Persch said. "We want significant time for a team of people to go in every week."So far, a team of about 30 clergy has been assembled to help with the visits, with lawmakers who championed the bill negotiating the conditions of those visits with prison authorities.

Daniel Sedlock, chief of corrections for McHenry County Jail, predicted his facility would have no problem complying with the new law, though he was uncertain what its supporters are seeking.With Bible study sessions, weekly church services and clergy allowed to meet with inmates during regular visiting hours, "we've been meeting these requirements for a long time, in my opinion, and I think we exceed them," Sedlock said.
aolivo@tribune.com