Twin Cities faith leaders hold prayer service after court orders DHS to allow clergy inside Whipple Building
There were signs of healing on Thursday outside a building at the center of Operation Metro Surge.
Faith leaders held a prayer service for people detained inside the Whipple Federal Building at Fort Snelling. This comes as a federal judge allowed the practice after clergy members sued the Department of Homeland Security for being banned.
The Whipple Building houses the region's federal immigration court, along with many Veterans Affairs offices. Throughout Operation Metro Surge, it housed people detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
"Knowing the level of trauma that people inside Whipple were experiencing breaks my heart," said Rev. Dr. Rebecca Voelkel, of Lyndale United Church of Christ.
Voelkel stood with other faith leaders as a part of the United Church of Christ. It's one of the churches named in a February lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security. The suit alleges clergy members were blocked from going inside Whipple.
The group participated in a foot-washing ritual before three clergy leaders made their way inside to administer pastoral care to those who wanted it.
"We're grateful now the court has ordered DHS allow us to go in and we can provide care to those detained inside now," said Rev. Susie Hayward, of Creekside United Church of Christ.
U.S. District Judge Jerry Blackwell granted the injunction on March 20, giving DHS and the four clergy leaders four days to have a meeting to discuss the matter.
"Kelly and I were able to go in last Friday," said Hayward. "It was incredibly powerful. It was clear they were experiencing a great deal of spiritual anguish."
That same group was given until the end of day Thursday to provide a status report to the court.
"We are very much looking forward to hearing what they were able to come up with," Voelkel told WCCO.
"It's been a struggle, honestly," Hayward added.
In late February, DHS told WCCO, "The Whipple Federal Building is not a detention facility—it is a field office. Illegal aliens are only briefly held there for processing before being transferred to a detention facility. Religious organizations are more than welcome to provide services to detainees in ICE detention facilities. It is not within standard operating procedure for religious services to be provided in a field office, as detainees are continuously brought in, processed, and transferred out."