In the shadow of the Eloy Detention Center, about 70 people including Catholic sisters , priests and people of faith gathered in peace and bilingual prayer in the searing Arizona summer heat. Only an aqueduct and some "no trespassing" signs separated them from the property, a private prison in Pinal County, Arizona, under contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and one of the largest immigrant detention centers in the country. Security guards looked on from the parking lot and a police drone buzzed overhead as members of the group passed around rosaries.
The Eloy Detention Center: gray, imposing and surrounded in razor wire-topped fencing served as a severe backdrop to a prayer vigil. "We chose this location because in our conversations with people deported to Nogales, Mexico, we have heard dozens of recent reports of horrific abuse and neglect, including unsafe conditions and overcrowding, medical neglect and wrongful deportation," said Sister Tracey Horan to the group. "The Eloy Detention Center is one of the deadliest detention centers in the U.S. ⎯ at least 16 individuals have died while in custody here, including five who died by suicide."
As the program continued, detainees were marched through the prison yard, and the vigil fell silent. Some held up their signs and rosaries for the detainees to see, as pictured below (detention center is on the left).
"Those of us who were by the aqueduct turned around and we were praying with them and for them, but then everything got really quiet," said Sister Eileen McKenzie, FSPA and mobilization specialist for the Kino Border Initiative.
In that moment both prisoners and those praying for them were pierced by the double-edged sword of silence: power and disempowerment. On one side silence, presence and prayer outside the detention center walls was perceived as a threat, something to be monitored with the possibility of prosecution. On the other side was the compulsory silence about the inhumane horrors within, the desperate whispers of which have made it beyond the walls.
The previous night, gathered in the warm darkness of the Sonoran Desert, several people of various documentation statuses wondered aloud if they should attend or if they should remain silent out of fear for revocation of their status, fear of retaliation, fear of even more oppression. Forced silence is a tool of oppression; willing silence, often an intended shield from it.
On June 24, Catholic sisters and allies shattered the strained silence in a collective voice that echoed throughout the nation. The Sisters Speak Out Prayer & Public Witness for Immigrants and a Just Economy campaign spanned 16 states and Washington D.C., with 62 sponsoring congregations and organizations joining in prayer for families seeking safety.
"The cry of people of faith and moral courage is growing," said Sister Tracey Horan, Sister of Providence and Associate Director of Education and Advocacy for the Kino border Initiative, pictured below holding the microphone. "Especially at this time when so many feel afraid to show their faces in public for fear of being detained, we feel a particular call to stand with them and use our voices in a public way."
Police and detention center security officers drove to the Eloy vigil site to warn the sisters and other attendees they were on private property, and that migrants at the detention center would not be allowed to see their attorneys due to the vigil. (News reports later revealed the property was owned by a Limited Liability Company and the owner did not take issue with the prayer vigil.) Police took organizer names to file a report, then drove away in a cloud of dust while the vigil continued. Later, news media reported that attorneys with the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights project were denied access to the facility and not allowed to see their clients for whom they provide pro bono immigration representation.
The vigil was flanked by seven signs to the left, each with a photo and the tragic story of a migrant who died. Among them: Darlyn, age ten, who migrated alone from El Salvador and died in ICE custody. Wilmer, age 2, who died in custody of the Border Patrol. Jakelin, age 7, who died in Border Patrol custody. Mariee, 20 months old, who died of an infection she contracted in detention. These children's stories, paired with testimonies read at the vigil, raised the collective echo to a crescendo. Overcrowding. Food infested with worms. Medical care withheld. Maribel, a former police officer in Mexico who had requested asylum and was sent to a detention center instead, had survived two chemical fires at Eloy Detention Center. Elizabeth was separated from her children, denied her rights and forced to sign documents she couldn't read. Manuel worked as a baker for 36 years to provide for his family before ICE detained him at his workplace. Children separated from their parents. Husbands and wives separated from one another and their families. Dehumanized. Detained. Deported. Dead. Name after name; story after story, no longer smothered in silence, but instead held in prayer.
Father Pete Neeley holds a sign that reads "This isn't about politics, it's about human decency."
"It's important to have a prayerful witness right now, like a moral compass you might say," explained Sister Eileen. "People of faith are standing up and taking the risk of saying, 'This is not OK and we don't approve it.'"
Vigil attendees came from several religious communities. Among them was Judy Bourg, School Sister of Notre Dame, who lives in Tucson and has been ministering at the border for 15 years. "People are being deported without due process, so I am going to put my body in a place that says, 'I'm against this.'"
As part of the national movement, the group prayed for immigrants, advocated against mass and illegal deportations, and also protested the dismantling of public institutions and environmental protections. But their prayers extended even beyond that.
"We pray for all those participating in family separation and holding people in inhumane conditions, who also suffer the moral injury of being part of this violence," said Sister Tracey to the crowd. "We believe that no one is beyond the reach of God's conversion, and in the words of John the Baptist, whose feast we celebrate today, we ask that they 'Repent of their sins and turn to God.'"
About two hours after it began, attendees signed letters that would be sent to lawmakers. Sisters from the many religious communities represented took a photo together, behind a sign made by people who did not feel safe attending. Then the group quietly picked up any trash left behind and packed up their shade canopies, tables, chairs, posters and yard signs, returning the desert facing the detention center to its uneasy silence.
"What I loved about this experience is it just brought us together, it raised awareness, and it was prayerful,” said Sister Eileen, pictured below holding a rosary. “These are sisters who are doing the beautiful work and at some level they're invisible like so many of our scared migrants are invisible as well, though not for the same reasons. So being able to come together like this, it's beautiful to raise that voice up, and it's coming from boots on the ground."
Sister Tracey says there are actions people can take outside of peaceful protest to support families facing immigration and migrant injustices. "We invite people of faith and good will everywhere to accompany people to their immigration hearings, to join mutual aid efforts for families afraid to go to work or school right now, to make sure their mayors and sheriffs know they do not want local collaboration with ICE."
Sister Tracey emphasized that the prayers were intended to communicate hope and solidarity to those inside the detention center. "We want to communicate through our prayers and presence that God has not forgotten them, that we will not look away but will continue to stand with them."
Learn More
Kino Border Initiative hosted this peaceful prayer vigil. Learn more about KBI here.
The Arizona Republic shared "Prayer vigil prompts Eloy Detention Center to deny access to immigrants' lawyers"
NETWORK Advocates for Justice, Inspired by Catholic Sisters hosted the Sisters Speak Out event in Washington, D.C. View event photos here.