Sept. 20--Marking 10 years of the Catholic Campaign for Immigration Reform, activists marched from three different churches for a prayer vigil at Federal Plaza downtown Saturday afternoon.
Demonstrators held up signs calling for a halt to immigration raids and deportations. One declared, simply, "Jesus was an immigrant." The unlikeliest appeal to the crowd came from Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran, a Republican who said he was a hard-liner on immigration until an activist's prayers helped open his eyes.
"How many of ya'll out there think that maybe Donald Trump is blind?" Curran said, drawing the biggest applause of the afternoon.
During his speech, Curran led the gathered crowd in a "Hail Mary" for Congress. He also led the Fatima prayer for Trump, the celebrity businessman and presidential candidate who has made controversial remarks about immigrants.
"O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those who have most needed thy mercy," Curran led the group in praying.
Activists gathered at the rally sought to draw attention to the separation of families, the ongoing detention and incarceration of immigrants, and what they termed "the culture of moral indifference" about immigrants.
Elena Segura, of the Archdiocese of Chicago's Office for Immigrant Affairs and Immigration Education, spoke about the immigration movement's decade-long journey and exhorted the audience to keep pushing forward.
"Let us continue this journey no matter how long we take, together, together until justice arrives," Segura said.
Archbishop Blase Cupich said in a statement read on his behalf at the rally that he could not attend the vigil because of his niece's wedding, but reiterated the Archdiocese's support for changes in immigration laws.
"I call on all Catholics and people of good will to work toward the day when our brothers and sisters in the Lord will be able to emerge from the shadows of our society to add the fullness of their light to the promise and future of our country," Cupich said.
gpratt@tribpub.com
