Archdiocese of St. Louis sues ICE officials over blocked religious services

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KTVI) — The Archdiocese of St. Louis has filed a lawsuit against Ste. Genevieve County officials and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) leadership over alleged restrictions on Catholic religious services for immigration detainees.

The federal lawsuit, filed Monday, claims that the Ste. Genevieve County Jail and ICE have violated the First Amendment rights of immigrant detainees by preventing Catholic priests from delivering communion, hearing confessions and celebrating Mass.

The lawsuit argues that the jail’s visitation policy prevents Catholic detainees from practicing important parts of their faith.

According to the lawsuit, Catholic priests are required to have in private, face-to-face contact with detainees to fulfill certain religious obligations for confession and communion. The lawsuit claims, however, that current jail policies make that impossible because visits must take place through glass barriers using a telephone system with no physical contact.

The Ste. Genevieve County Jail’s website states that jail visitations are limited to a single four-hour window on Sundays with 30-minute visitation blocks available on a first-come, first-serve basis.

According to the lawsuit, some attorneys and consular officials are granted exceptions to both the no-contact and time-limitation policies. The Archdiocese argues that this amounts to unequal treatment because comparable religious and secular activities could be offered with those visitations.

The Archdiocese says it has repeatedly made requests for face-to-face visits for the administration of Catholic sacraments, but those requests have been denied.

According to the lawsuit, Andrew Johnson, the jail administrator in Ste. Genevieve County, told the Archdiocese that such visits were not possible because of the facility’s no-contact visitation policy, adding that “the visitation policy was implemented by ICE” and that he had no authority to change it.

The lawsuit alleges that the jail houses immigrant detainees through agreements with ICE and receives federal funding for those detainees. It argues that, as a result, ICE officials have the authority to ensure that appropriate religious accommodations are provided.

The lawsuit asks the court to declare the Ste. Genevieve County Jail’s visitation policies as unconstitutional and for an order to prohibit county officials from enforcing them. It also seeks an order preventing ICE from sending federal funds and additional immigration detainees to the facility until accommodations are made for Catholic religious services and sacraments.

Nexstar’s KTVI has reached out to officials with the St. Genevieve County Jail and ICE on the lawsuit. A Ste. Genevieve County Jail spokesperson told KTVI the jail has not yet received documentation of the lawsuit, but once that happens, it will be forwarded to legal counsel for review. ICE has not yet returned our request for comment.

The lawsuit lists Sheriff Gary Stolzer, Chief Deputy Jason Schott and Lt. Andrew Johnson from Ste. Genevieve County, along with U.S. Department of Homeland Security Director Markwayne Mullin and acting ICE Director David J. Venturella.