Congregations join with Manchester University students at press conference at Miami Correctional Facility in Indiana

By Anna Lisa Gross

Members of four Church of the Brethren congregations in Indiana—Beacon Heights, Northview, Manchester, and Eel River Community—as well as Manchester University students, were part of a press conference at the Miami Correctional Facility on Thursday, April 9.

The Miami Correctional Facility, in north central Indiana north of Kokomo, has been called “the Speedway Slammer” by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), a title that both the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and many Hoosiers reject. This is already the most dangerous prison in the state, with the highest rates of inmate death. Recent whistleblowers have joined the countless correctional staff decrying the culture and practices of the prison.

Now there are about 600 immigrant detainees held at Miami Correctional Facility, separate from the rest of the prison population, with a contract with DHS to increase this number to 1,000.

“Every detention bed is a family in crisis,” explained Miguel Avila, a Mexican immigrant who spent nine months in ICE detention. He described horrible conditions but says his family suffered the most. “The tremendous stress level that my wife and family have to deal with and the psychological trauma comes to my children is not something that can be easily handled,” Avila said. “It has caused lasting damage, and my family will never be the same again.”

With two recent deaths of immigrant detainees, and another of a prisoner at Miami Correctional Facility, outcry is growing for the state of Indiana to end current DHS contracts.

Read and watch news accounts of the press conference here:
https://www.wfyi.org/statewide/2026-04-09/congressman-calls-for-end-to-ice-detention-at-indiana-prison-after-oversight-visit
https://www.wthitv.com/news/congressman-cites-heartbreaking-detainee-accounts-during-indiana-prison-visit/article_742c8d50-dbff-445b-a1ef-4eb002b0920f.html
https://www.ipm.org/news/2026-04-10/congressman-calls-for-end-to-ice-detention-at-indiana-prison-after-oversight-visit
https://www.wrtv.com/news/local-news/rep-carson-calls-to-end-ice-detention-at-miami-correctional-facility

You can send a message to Indiana Department of Corrections Commissioner Lloyd Arnold at larnold@idoc.in.gov with a message such as:

Commissioner Arnold,

I plead with you to end the practice of holding ICE detainees in the Miami Correctional Facility. This is a cruel and inhumane practice that is causing enormous harm to families, including many US citizen spouses and children. I am a Christian who is called to love my neighbor, and taught by Jesus that my neighbor is even a Samaritan, a person who seems so different from me and lives in another region. More than 200 times in the Bible we are called to care for the immigrant. Please end your contract with DHS.

Sincerely,

Name
Address (if an Indiana resident)

–– Anna Lisa Gross is a minister at Beacon Heights Church of the Brethren in Fort Wayne, Ind.

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