Case: Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership v. Noem

[This summary is temporary while we research the case.]

On November 19, 2025, Plaintiffs brought suit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Department of Justice, and President Trump over an alleged violation of Plaintiffs’ rights under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (“RFRA”), 42 U.S.C. § 2000bb, et seq., and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (“RLUIPA”), 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000cc, et seq. Plaintiffs allege that on October 11, 2025, the Plaintiffs gathered with 1,000 Catholics and faith community members at St. Eulalia Parish in Maywood, Illinois, before the start of their Eucharistic Procession to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) facility in neighboring Broadview, Illinois. After the ICE Broadview facility was established in 2006, one of the members of CSPL, Sr. JoAnn Persch, for ten years, came every week to Broadview, usually at 4:00 a.m., and by permission of ICE entered and prayed with the detainees. Beginning in 2010, ICE permitted these regular visits, and there were never any safety or security concerns. On October 11, 2025, when the Plaintiffs reached the facility’s gates, they asked the Illinois State Police (“ISP”) officers stationed outside the facility to relay the request to ICE personnel at the facility, but upon returning, the officers informed the Plaintiffs that access to the facility to pray and give Holy Communion was denied. 

This case is ongoing.