Tax-Payer funded, For-Profit Centers Inflict Trauma on Innocent Migrants Searching for a Safe Place

TEXAS – On Tuesday, June 3, Progress Texas will join Borderland Ministries in coordination with the Episcopal Migration Caucus and friends at a prayer vigil at the West Texas Detention Center in Sierra Blanca, Texas.

“With more than 200 immigrant detention centers across the U.S. imprisoning noncitizens, including mothers and children, and the Trump administration rapidly expanding the detention system and resuming family detention–our hope is to highlight stories of those trapped in a broken system,” said the Reverend Michael Wallens. 

Detention inflicts lasting psychological and physical harm, especially on children who are detained or have a parent detained. ICE detention centers are taxpayer funded and often run by for-profit corporations; U.S. elected officials and taxpayers bear responsibility for this system and for replacing it with a humane system that respects basic rights and dignity. This pilgrimage shines a light on the cruelty and injustice that taxpayers support and aims to inspire compassionate action. Progress Texas Advocacy Manager Reagan Stone said, “Citizens must stand in solidarity with impacted community members and innocent migrants; those who share our values are encouraged to demand action for an end to immigrant detention.”

WHO:

Reagan Stone, Advocacy Manager, Progress Texas

Rev. Michael Wallens, Vicar, Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church of Marfa, Texas

Rev. Leeann Culbreath, Deacon, Episcopal Migration Ministries

WHAT:

Migration with Dignity Pilgrimage: Episcopalians from across the U.S. will hold prayer vigils at immigrant detention centers in New Mexico and Texas to expose the cruelty and trauma of ICE detention, particularly family and child detention; bear witness to the suffering of all harmed by the detention system; and call for a new immigration system centered on “Migration with Dignity.”

WHEN & WHERE:

Monday, June 2, 2025 at 6:00 PM Mountain Time at the El Paso Processing Center
8915 Montana Avenue, El Paso, Texas, 79901

Tuesday, June 3, 2025 at 9:00 AM Central Time at the West Texas Detention Center–401 South Vaquero Avenue, Sierra Blanca, Texas, 79851 (Progress Texas Advocacy Manager Reagan Stone will be onsite and is available for comments, questions, or interviews virtually before, after, or on Tuesday in Sierra Blanca.)

Thursday, June 5, 2025 at 9:30 AM Central Time at the South Texas Family Residential Center–300 El Rancho Way, Dilley, Texas, 78017

###
Progress Texas is a rapid response media organization promoting progressive messages and actions. For updates follow us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Bluesky, and Twitter.