TACOMA, Wash. — Every Tuesday morning, Deacon Juan Lezcano leaves his parish in Federal Way, packs his stole and liturgical materials in a small bag, and drives south toward Tacoma’s industrial district. Beyond the barbed-wire fencing and concrete walls of the Northwest ICE Processing Center, he leads Catholic services for immigrants held in federal custody, a routine he has kept for four years.

Inside the chapel space at St. Vincent de Paul, a small portrait of St. Vincent hangs on the wall. Lezcano gestures to it, explaining that St. Vincent is the patron saint of prisoners and the poor, and that he devoted his life to people living on the margins. Lezcano says he tries to do the same.

Though he is not a priest, he brings the Liturgy of the Word and the Eucharist to detainees who reque

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