Arabic version: راهبات نيويورك يدعمن عائلات المحتجزين خارج مركز احتجاز تابع لإدارة الهجرة والجمارك
According to ABC News, the Sisters of Charity of New York are among an inter-faith coalition supporting families of people detained at Delaney Hall Detention Centre in Newark, New Jersey. About 800 immigrants picked up by ICE are held at the facility, while protesters conduct daily vigils outside its perimeter fence.
At a “radical hospitality tent” near the entrance, nuns, priests and activists provide comfort, food and toys for families visiting loved ones inside. Sister Donna Dodge, president of the Sisters of Charity of New York, said the presence of police and ICE personnel holding guns was off-putting and said she could not imagine what it was like for families to see it.
The Sisters of Saint Joseph of Peace also protest outside the centre. Sister Susan Francois said one immigrant was held in solitary confinement for five months because he needed crutches, which she said were considered a weapon. She also described the case of a person with stage four lung cancer who wanted to return home to die, calling for greater awareness of detainees’ human stories.
The Sisters of Charity, whose headquarters are about a 40-minute drive from Delaney Hall, regularly join protests and prayer vigils. They also help fund US passports for children left behind after their parents are detained by ICE, allowing the children to remain in the United States with other family members. The order has a history of political activism, including a 1965 Harlem protest over voting rights for black Americans and anti-Vietnam War demonstrations.
With 123 sisters remaining and an average age of 86, the congregation decided in 2023 to close after receiving no vocations or recruits for 25 years. The sisters say support for vulnerable immigrants and their children will form part of their final mission as they prepare to transfer ministries to lay people in the community.
