They go about it quietly, but every Friday morning a group of St. Martin de Porres High School students travel to federal detention centers in Chicago, to pray for people being deported — that day.
Students go before school with their guidance counselor, Br. Michael Gosch, CSV, and join members of the Interfaith Committee for Detained Immigrants. Often they are the only high school students to participate in the vigils, which typically include the saying of the rosary and end as a bus pulls away with detainees headed to the airport.
The teens’ dedication caught the attention of Nancy Polacek, coordinator of the Strategic Pastoral Plan and radio host for the Archdiocese of Chicago. She invited three of the students to be interviewed on her monthly broadcast, “Reflecting Christ’s Light.”
“The Archdiocese of Chicago’s Strategic Pastoral Plan is focusing on teens and young adults this year,” Polacek explained at the beginning of the broadcast. “I believe these students really do reflect Christ’s light in what they do.”
Their half-hour interview with Polacek airs at 9 a.m. Nov. 30 on Relevant Radio, 950 AM.
When Polacek asked what moved the students to get up before dawn to attend the vigils, and stand out in the cold praying for people they do not know, the teens answered that their own personal stories drive them.
“My father was deported,” said Ivonne. “It was really hard seeing my mother struggle and hearing my dad’s stories of his mistreatment in jail. He’s been back for a long time now, but I think of my dad every time I see that bus pulling away. It’s very emotional. That’s why I want to make a change, to make a difference for other families.”
Likewise, Ulises, a junior basketball player, described how his father had come to this country at the age of 7 from Honduras.
“As a young child he was split up from his family,” Ulises said, adding that he prays for other families separated because of deportation.
Earlier this year, the three students, Ulises, Crystal and Ivonne, wanted to extend their advocacy for immigrants, into their school community and the wider city of Waukegan.
They formed a club, “United for Immigration Reform” and already have held activities, including a silent vigil on Belvidere Road in Waukegan and holding fundraisers at school, designed to draw others into their cause.
“We’re really trying to raise awareness,” said Ulises, activities director for the club. “We want people to understand what’s going on in the world around us.”