A traveling memorial in Illinois honoring people reported to have died during immigration operations will make its next stop just two miles from where a 38-year-old Mexican father was shot and killed.
The Immigrant Crosses exhibit is part of a Catholic-led effort to confront what organizers describe as the human cost of immigration enforcement.
The Rev. Brendan Curran, a Dominican priest and community organizer for the immigrant justice nonprofit the Resurrection Project, said 128 wooden crosses memorialize people identified as having died in detention or during ICE operations since 2020, including Silverio Villegas Gonzalez.
"A young man from Mexico was beginning a usual school day as a proud parent. In the midst of pulling him over, ICE agents opened fire into his window, shooting him dead," Curran recounted.
Curran explained 103 crosses are for confirmed deaths, while the others represent those not yet identified. Each cross displays the person’s name, age, date of death and country of origin. The exhibit’s next stop will be at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church in Melrose Park on Sunday.
A joint report from Catholic and evangelical organizations estimated 80% of immigrants vulnerable to deportation identify as Christian, including 61% who are Catholic. Curran argued the church has a responsibility to speak out, drawing on Christian teachings about welcoming strangers and treating them with dignity.
"We as Catholics cannot sit on the side of this issue. This is unhealthy, unethical, and it's simply not American and absolutely not Christian action," Curran contended.
Organizers deliberately chose 2020 as the starting point for the memorials to acknowledge deaths across multiple presidential administrations.
Curran noted the exhibit launched in Chicago last month, bringing together two Catholic networks focused on immigrant justice and the transformative power of faith in the midst of tragedy.
"Even difficult crises and difficult topics can become a springboard to healing and a new journey in building back up our community in its horrible division about this topic," Curran added.
The exhibit is scheduled to visit 12 more locations in Illinois through November. Curran pointed out organizers intend to keep the project touring for the next two years, with similar versions planned in dioceses across the country.
Illinois News Connection originally published this story.
