THE Bishop of Chicago, the Rt Revd Paula Clark, has visited and prayed with a detainee who was snatched by immigration officers outside a barber shop, amid rising tensions in the city.
Willian Giménez González, originally from Venezuela, has been a member of the congregation of St Paul and the Redeemer Episcopal Church, on Chicago’s South Side, for two years. The church has held vigils to pray for his release since he was taken from the street by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) officials in September, despite having a valid work permit.
His court hearing has now been postponed until the end of October, Bishop Clark said, in a statement after her visit.
“Willian spoke candidly about the emotional toll of his detention—the isolation, uncertainty, and hardship he faces daily. As an asylum seeker with a valid work permit, he is confused by his continued detention and deeply concerned about the wellbeing of his wife and children, for whom he is the primary provider. Despite these challenges, Willian remains grounded in faith and expressed deep gratitude for the support of his church community.
“His journey is difficult, but he remains steadfast — uplifted by the love and solidarity of those who stand with him. I give thanks for the support and prayers he continues to receive, and for our diocese’s unwavering commitment to justice and compassion,” she said.
Chicago has been targeted by President Trump’s anti-immigration policies and at least 1000 people have been arrested and detained in immigration raids. ICE officials have been showing even greater levels of force, including using helicopters to snatch people. One raid was accompanied by a helicopter landed on an apartment block to target a Venezuelan gang, but only two of the 27 subsequent arrests were gang members, and many US citizens were caught up in the raid, according to local news reports.
AlamyA brass band marches in the “No Kings” demonstration in San Diego on Saturday
The Trump administration has also pushed to deploy federal troops onto the streets of Chicago to back up the ICE raids, but a federal judge issued a temporary block on this, saying that the descriptions of danger in the city are “simply unreliable”.
Seven million people turned out to march against apparent authoritarianism in the US at the weekend, organised by the No Kings protest movement, and including many Episcopal clergy.
Deacon Michael Choquette, who serves as Chicago’s Archdeacon, was among the 250,000 who demonstrated in the city. He told the Episcopal News Service: “As a church, we are called to witness redemptive love and work together to speak truth to power.”
In Washington, 200,000 protestors, including members of St Mark’s Episcopal Church on Capitol Hill, marched.
In New York, the newly inaugurated Dean of St John the Divine Cathedral, the Very Revd Winnie Varghese, joined a march to Times Square where she prayed for those who could not join the march for fear of arrest, and for those who felt “defeated by the politics of today, by the real experience of their lives”. She told Religion News Service that New York’s diverse faith community needed to “claim our moral voice at this moment”.
