The Immigrant Crosses is a traveling memorial. Each week, a parish, campus ministry or school displays the crosses at its main entrance — a visible act of remembrance for the more than 100 people who have died in immigration custody or enforcement actions since 2020.
The project has one purpose: to make sure these lives are seen. Behind each name is a family, a community, and a story that did not end the way it should have. By placing the crosses where people gather to worship, we invite our communities to remember them, to pray for them, and to work so that others are protected.
Why these crosses
The names, countries, and ages painted on the crosses come from the ICE Fall Tracker, an independent record whose data is cross-checked against reporting from The Guardian, the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), the ACLU, and the Detention Watch Network. Each cross represents a documented death.
Who is behind this
The Immigrant Crosses project grows out of Priests for Justice for Immigrants (PJI), a coalition formed in 2005 that today brings together some 200 immigrant and native-born priests from more than 150 Archdiocese of Chicago parishes, along with members of religious communities. For two decades, PJI has stood with immigrants through pastoral care, education, and advocacy, guided by the conviction that every human life carries God-given dignity.
The crosses are carried from parish to parish together with the Sisters and Brothers of Immigrants, a community founded in 2007 by Catholic Sisters that now includes religious brothers, associates, and lay people committed to justice for immigrants, known for its pastoral presence at detention centers and its faithful public witness — along with a coalition of Chicago-area parishes and campus ministries hosting the installation.