ST. LOUIS — Several groups traveled south to the Saint Genevieve Detention Center Saturday to attend a prayer service for inmates who were detained by immigration and being held at the jail. FOX 2’s Kamryn Mendoza spoke with people who attended the service.
Jaime Dunphy with St. Gabriel’s in St. Louis says he felt compelled to attend the Saturday morning prayer service held at the detention center. That’s where there are reportedly multiple detainees who were captured by ICE.
Dunphy says religious leaders and groups have not been allowed inside to pray for inmates, for confession, or even for ash wednesday last month. But Rob Garavagalia and Bridget Rush, who also attended the event say this was not only a stand; but hopefully a step in a direction closer to solidarity.
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“The prayer was being extended to not only people who were being detained, but to people who were working in ICE, the officers, politicians. And what I took away from the prayer vigil was that one reason or another, we’re all living in fear,” said Garavagalia.
A non-profit group in the St. Louis area, Abide in Love, was also in attendance and has a penpal program with inmates who say they are not only in fear being detained, but so are there families who are free..
“They were also telling stories of people from a nonprofit organization that had become pen pals with the people that had been incarcerated. And my heart is just sad as a mother hearing the stories of people separated from their families,” said Rush.
FOX 2 attempted to reach the Saint Genevieve Detention Center for a comment on how many immigrants are being detained, but were told they could not give us that number, and to reach out to the major who will not be in until Monday.
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