Overview
- Cupich voiced the claim in a Jan. 17 WTTW interview and repeated it Feb. 6 in El País, saying priests of color were stopped and asked to prove citizenship.
- The Archdiocese of Chicago declined to provide further details, and the Department of Homeland Security has not responded to requests for comment.
- Religion News Service contacted other dioceses; most did not respond, while the Los Angeles and Miami archdioceses said they were unaware of similar incidents.
- Context includes a Supreme Court decision last September easing limits on race-based immigration stops and a ProPublica finding that immigration agents detained more than 170 U.S. citizens.
- Recent confrontations involving clergy have been documented, including pepper-ball shootings of the Rev. David Black in Illinois and the Rev. Jorge Bautista in California, as bishops such as Cardinals Blase Cupich and Joseph Tobin and Archbishop Paul Coakley issued public condemnations.