For the immigrant family the fees keep piling up. Our migrant family accompaniment program is focused on supporting asylum seekers. For those filing an asylum application the application fee is $100 and then an annual renewal fee must be paid of $102... To apply for a work permit the fee varies but is typically $560 and can be as high as $750... We have been able to continue to pay for some fees if needed and for legal support for our families. That is because of your support. Thank you...

Rory Hoskins, the mayor of Forest Park, recently visited us at Centro San Bernardino. He had heard about our work with the migrants and wanted to learn more... Security is a major concern for the Migrant Ministry, especially now with the Customs and Border Patrol achieving record numbers of abductions and arrests... The Center will close for donations on Monday, September 21 as the sorting team works to clear out summer clothing to make room for fall and winter items. Donations will resume the following Monday...

There was much excitement on a recent Tuesday at Saint Bernardine’s Migrant Ministry morning. Bishop Jose Garcia Maldonado, now head of our Vicariate IV, was scheduled to tour and meet volunteers and migrants... His office and apartment are both very close to Saint Bernardine - his office is within walking distance. We expect that he may visit again as his schedule allows. Our volunteers work so hard to make a welcoming place for migrants... Donations are accepted on Monday mornings...

News media report a recent surge in ICE arrests, as immigrants and migrants with no criminal record are increasingly targeted... At the Migrant Ministry, we are committed to helping migrants understand the implications of each option in order to make an informed decision... Self-deportation means that migrants leave the U.S. on their own, without getting permission or assistance from the government... Donations are accepted on Monday mornings from 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM at the former St. Bernardine School...

At a recent trip to the Broadview Processing (previously Detention Center) a battle-ready combat vehicle was observed entering the building. It made this writer consider what my battle-ready vehicle would look like... It would be a wagon containing the following: T-shirts with slogans like “Mercy for Justice” or “God has cast down the mighty and has lifted up the lowly”, lots of rosaries, at least one Bible and prayer books,... I don’t know who will win the battle, but I believe long-term in our chances...

Daily life is no less stressful for the migrants we serve than it was last fall during Operation Midway Blitz. DHS’s strategies have changed, but are just as aggressive... At the Migrant Ministry, we increasingly view our center as a “Place of Encounter,” as called for by Pope Leo. Migrants are welcomed and made to feel respected and heard... Looking with HOPE to the future, we have been very busy helping parents select school clothes and children new backpacks and school supplies...

A Story from inside Broadway Detention Center - Heidi Torgerson is the Pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in LaGrange, and also one of the pastors who goes inside Broadview Processing (previously Detention) Center... Pastors go in every day to provide pastoral care to the people being held there... This care is being allowed due to the work of CSPL, the Coalition of Spiritual and Pastoral Leadership, which filed a lawsuit against ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, forcing them to allow these visits...

Increasingly at the Migrant Ministry, we are being called to alert migrants about significant changes in immigration policy, issue warnings about potential scams, and fight misinformation... Colorful, low-literacy information posters and flyers using eye-catching emojis are a key part of the Migrant Ministry’s efforts to educate migrants about key concerns... Migrants are encouraged to take photos of the posters and share them widely on social media...

The Immigrants' Creed - This Creed was written by Bishop Hector A. Burgos-Nunez, a United Methodist bishop from Puerto Rico. We are grateful for these words that so eloquently express our longing for God’s kingdom. We are grateful for the interfaith nature of our Migrant Ministry. We are grateful for the many volunteers who support this ministry... Thank you for making our work possible!... Donations are accepted on Monday mornings from 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM at the former Saint Bernardine School...

Ecumenism 60 Years after Vatican II - This writer grew up in a parish where the pastor considered a “mixed marriage” to be when a parishioner married someone from another parish... Oh, religiously we were so siloed then! Catholics could not enter into the worship space of another faith tradition, not even for weddings or funerals... Ecumenism promotes cooperation and visible unity among different Christian denominations...

Our country’s motto as it appears on the great seal of the United States: E Pluribus Unum, translated to “out of many, one” has great significance for our migrant families... But for the 40 or so volunteers marching in the Oak Park 4th of July parade, it was clear that they all wanted to return to an even better, more welcoming immigration system... WE ARE IN GREAT NEED OF WINDOW AIR CONDITIONERS. Donations of items are accepted on Monday mornings at the former Saint Bernardine School...

The Migrant Ministry mourns with our beloved migrant brothers and sisters the unfathomable death and destruction caused by the terrible twin earthquakes that shook Venezuela on June 24, registering 7.2 and 7.5 respectively... We received notice about the earthquakes within the first hour of their occurrence... Our prayers for the people of Venezuela continue... At 10:00 AM on Tuesday morning, we paused our ministry and invited everyone, migrants and volunteers alike, to gather in the hallway...

In early 2022, a group from Ascension, Saint Giles and Saint Luke’s in Berwyn met and began to talk about ways to welcome our migrant neighbors. By mid-summer Ascension- Saint Giles felt ready to welcome a family but where to find one... Many of our favorite stories are filled with the Holy Spirit... Finally, there was the day we were desperately seeking an apartment for a new family in a tragic situation... Donations are accepted on Monday mornings from 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM at the former Saint Bernardine School...

What better way to celebrate our nation’s 250th birthday than marching in our local July 4th parade to honor our nation’s history as a welcoming place for immigrants from all over the world!... After much thought, we found the perfect wording to follow the name of our organization: E PLURIBUS UNUM. “Out of many, one.”... Interested in marching with us for the July 4th parade?... Donations are accepted on Monday mornings from 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM at the former Saint Bernardine School...

Father’s Day is also celebrated on the third Sunday in June in many of the countries of origin of the migrants we serve, including Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia, and Mexico... Fathers carried their children through the treacherous Darien Gap and protected them from the human traffickers, drug cartels, and other risks experienced on their way to the United States... Donations are accepted on Monday mornings from 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM at the former Saint Bernardine School...

On a lovely summer evening a group of amazing volunteers held a fundraising event to benefit Migrant Ministry at a local venue... By the end of the evening almost 250 people had paid to enter - people of all ages including a few infants and a few pastors... Two local bands provided music, energy and a sense of celebration. A huge variety of auction and raffle items were available... Donations are accepted on Monday at the former Saint Bernardine School...

On this feast day of Corpus Christi, we recall a very profound event that took place last October. Following Mass at Saint Eulalia Church in Broadview, over 1,000 people of faith participated in a Eucharistic Procession from the church to the Broadview Detention Center... It was an experience of Corpus Christi - the Body of Christ being brought to the broken Body of Christ, the migrant men, women, and children crammed in unsafe and unsanitary conditions at the Broadview Detention Center...

On Friday, May 15, 2026, Broadview Detention Center was again open for daily pastoral visits... Both men and women are at the detention center, and the countries represented include Palestine, Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico, China, India, and El Salvador... One morning, it took the pastors two hours to calm the detainees. Not a single criminal among them. How can we be so cruel?... PLEASE COME TO OUR FUNDRAISER ON JUNE 4 AT ROBERT’S WESTSIDE...

Born in Haiti near the border with the Dominican Republic, the two Haitian refugees grew up speaking Creole, French, and Spanish... The migrants’ persistence in seeking a better life and learning English as a key tool is inspiring for the volunteer tutors... ESL is currently offered on Tuesday mornings at Saint Bernardine’s during Ministry hours... PLEASE COME TO OUR FUNDRAISER ON JUNE 4 AT ROBERT’S WESTSIDE... WE WILL BE CLOSED FOR DONATIONS ON MEMORIAL DAY...

As the weather improves, we are starting to get requests for help from the migrants with a variety of cleanup activities, from yard work, gardening, basement cleanup, house cleaning, or packing to move to a new location... Migrant Ministry volunteers are amazed at the willingness of our migrant families to take the most menial jobs to earn money to feed their families... If you need help with gardening, cleaning out your basement or attic, or any of those things listed, please send us a note...