Armed with 104 crosses, each adorned with an individual name, Catholic leaders and union workers united at a downtown church Thursday to introduce a new installation meant to honor victims of aggressive immigration practices and push for reform.The installation memorializes each person who has died in immigration custody or during immigration operations since 2020 by painting their names on a cross. The crosses will be displayed at Holy Name Cathedral on the Near North Side and moved to different parishes in the Chicago area, including Catholic Theological Union in Hyde Park and St. Sabina in Auburn Gresham.The Rev. Brendan Curran, co-founder of Priests for Justice for Immigrants, said the project is two-fold: to honor those who have died and work toward better treatment of immigrants, including supporting political candidates who support immigrant rights.“This side of this exhibit is a very clear indication that our system is broken, and we have to do something better than this for the future of this country,” Curran said.He encouraged Catholics and others who are immigrant advocates to vote in the November midterm elections and put pressure on members of Congress to restore Temporary Protected Status for Haitian immigrants. Curran also urged support for the Drain ICE Act, a bill introduced in February that would pull $75 billion in funding from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal immigration enforcement systems. Fr. Larry Dowling (center) prays during a launch event at Holy Name Cathedral in Gold Coast for “The Immigrant Crosses” memorial — a traveling set of hand-painted wooden crosses bearing the names of people who have died in immigration custody or during an enforcement action since 2020.Candace Dane Chambers/Sun-Times Among the names on the 104 crosses are Silverio Villegas González, a father of two who was fatally shot by ICE agents in Franklin Park last fall, and Renee Good and Alex Pretti, protesters who were shot to death by the federal agents in Minneapolis earlier this year. But lesser-known names also appeared, including people who died in immigration detention facilities and an Arizona man referenced by Curran who was reportedly hit by a car fleeing immigration agents. Those names, Curran said, are just as important to remember.“People deserve to have their recognition that this is a human person,” he said. “One loss and one tragedy to any of us, whether it be Alex Pretti or Silverio or this young man, 19-year-old in Arizona, is a cost of the human toll to all of us as a nation.”Other crosses were more general, reading, “Deaths of mothers at the border” and “Deaths of children in detention.” A traveling set of hand-painted wooden crosses bearing the names of people who have died in immigration custody or during an enforcement action since 2020 is on display at Holy Name Cathedral in Gold CoastCandace Dane Chambers/Sun-Times The crosses were constructed and painted by union workers with the Chicago Federation of Labor. Don Villar, secretary and treasurer of the Chicago Federation of Labor, said workers’ rights and immigrant rights are inextricably linked.“In this moment where, where folks are being marginalized, and folks are being disrespected and abused constantly, and division, maybe this is a moment to find unity and community in the cross, right?” Villar said. ...read more read less