ELCA NEWS SERVICE

June 10, 2008  

ELCA Synod Bishops Visit Immigration Detention Centers
08-084-MRC/LO*

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Seven synod bishops of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) visited prisons and detention
centers where people seeking asylum, refuge or who have entered
the United States without documentation are being held while the
U.S. government decides whether or not to deport them.
     "Immigrants being detained in public jails is a sign of a
broken system, which is why we as a church must strengthen our
voices to call on our country for a just immigration policy,"
said the Rev. John D. Schleicher, bishop, ELCA North/West Lower
Michigan Synod, Lansing.  Schleicher, along with the Rev. John
H.K. Schreiber, bishop, ELCA Southeast Michigan Synod, Detroit,
and other Lutherans visited the William Dickerson Detention
Facility, Detroit, on May 21.
     Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) organized
the visits.  LIRS, based in Baltimore, is a cooperative ministry
of the ELCA, Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and Latvian
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
     "You're reminded on a tour like this how many immigrants are
tucked into hundreds of odd corners of the vast prison system in
the United States, small pockets of confused, isolated people,
most of whom can't communicate with people who have the keys, and
who have little idea of what is happening to them," said Annie P.
Wilson, LIRS executive vice president.
     Wilson said that, while talking to about 60 immigrant
detainees at Dickerson, a great deal of suffering was expressed
among the detainees.  "Some detainees have lived and worked in
the United States for 10 or more years.  They were from Haiti,
Lebanon, Senegal, Mexico and many other places.  They saw the
crosses and the collars and knew we were there to be helpful in
some way.  Some wanted advice about their situations, but others
simply wanted a pastoral presence in their time of crisis," she
said.
     The Rev. H. Julian Gordy, bishop, ELCA Southeastern Synod,
Atlanta, the Rev. Richard H. Graham, bishop, ELCA Metropolitan
Washington, D.C. Synod, the Rev. H. Gerald Knoche, bishop, ELCA
Delaware-Maryland Synod, Baltimore, and the Rev. James F. Mauney,
bishop, ELCA Virginia Synod, Salem, and others visited the
Pamunkey Regional Jail, Hanover, Va., on May 14.  The facility
holds up to 435 inmates, and, at times, 100 of the detainees are
immigrants.
     "Some of the folks there have not committed any sort of
crime," said Gordy, "yet, they are in jail."
     According to LIRS, Pamunkey is one of 300 facilities across
the country that detains immigrants for U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE), most of whom are awaiting deportation
proceedings.  Nationwide more than 311,210 immigrants were
detained since Sept. 30, 2007, at a cost to the federal
government of $1.2 billion.  ICE is facing lawsuits over
conditions at some of its detention facilities, some of which are
chronically overcrowded and lacking adequate medical care.
     "LIRS remains deeply concerned that asylum seekers, torture
victims and other vulnerable groups are being detained in jail-
like facilities, too often commingled with criminal offenders,"
said Gregory Chen, LIRS director for legislative affairs.
     ELCA state public policy directors visited a detention
center April 28 in Tacoma, Wash.  The Rev. William C. Boerger,
bishop, ELCA Northwest Washington Synod, Seattle, attended this
tour.
- - -
     Information about Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service
is at http://lirs.org on the Web.

*Liz O'Neill serves as LIRS interim director for communication.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
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