Archbishop Rozanski and the Archdiocese of St. Louis Sue the Federal Government and a Sheriff Over Clergy Access to ICE Detainees in Sainte Genevieve County

Archbishop Mitchell Thomas Rozanski of St. Louis, with the Archdiocese, filed a complaint on Monday (Oct. 5) in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri against the federal government and the Sainte Genevieve County sheriff. The suit alleges that the government has instituted a ’no contact’ policy at the Sainte Genevieve County Detention Center, where immigrants detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are being held, that forces clergy to speak to detainees through a glass partition and ‘prevents priests from administering the sacraments of confession and Communion’, limiting clergy to one four-hour visit a week. The Catholic leaders also allege lawyers visiting clients at the facility are not bound by the same rules or are ‘readily’ granted exemptions.

DHS denied the claims in a statement to Religion News Service, which reads: ‘These allegations are FALSE,’ and adds that the facility is ‘a non-contact county jail, not an ICE facility.’ The report notes the suit marks the first time a Catholic bishop has individually joined one of the lawsuits, and adds to two similar cases filed over the past year in Illinois and Minnesota. These are allegations in a complaint; no court ruling is reported.

Prior: 2025-11-19–clergy-plaintiffs-constitutional-lawsuit-trump-administration-broadview.