More than two dozen religious groups representing thousands of congregations are suing Donald Trump’s administration to protect houses of worship from being targets for immigration arrests.
The lawsuit zeroes in on the administration rescinding Immigration and Customs Enforcement policy that prevented enforcement actions in places like churches, schools, daycare centers and hospitals, which the administration claimed were being used to “hide” “criminals.”
A complaint in Washington, D.C., federal court — joined by 27 religious groups, including Baptist, Episcopalian, Evangelical, Methodist, Pentecostal, Jewish and Unitarian congregations, among others — argues that the Trump administration is infringing on their religious freedoms by threatening their ministry to vulnerable immigrant congregations.
The plaintiffs point to a recent arrest in Georgia, where an asylum seeker was listening to a sermon in a Pentecostal church when ICE agents entered and arrested him.
“Plaintiffs’ congregations and members face an imminent risk of similar immigration enforcement actions at their places of worship,” according to the complaint.
Houses of worship “have undocumented congregants and many offer social service ministries — such as food and clothing pantries, English as a Second Language (’ESL’) classes, legal assistance, and job training services — at their churches and synagogues that serve undocumented people,” plaintiffs wrote.
Immigration arrests during worship and ministry would be “devastating” to plaintiffs’ religious practice, according to the lawsuit.
“It would shatter the consecrated space of sanctuary, thwart communal worship, and undermine the social service outreach that is central to religious expression and spiritual practice for Plaintiffs’ congregations and members,” the lawsuit states.
Houses of worship have also seen “decreases in worship attendance and social services participation due to fear of immigration enforcement action,” plaintiffs add.
“For the vulnerable congregants who continue to attend worship services, congregations must choose between either exposing them to arrest or undertaking security measures that are in direct tension with their religious duties of welcome and hospitality,” they wrote.
A similar lawsuit was filed by Quaker groups against the Department of Homeland Security and Secretary Kristi Noem last month.
In that complaint, plaintiffs wrote that “the very threat of that enforcement deters congregants from attending services, especially members of immigrant communities.”
“DHS’s new policy does not acknowledge that houses of worship are sacred spaces,” the lawsuit states. “It does not acknowledge that for many, religious exercise is an essential activity … And it does not even consider what unconstrained immigration enforcement at houses of worship would mean as a result.”
The Independent has requested comment from DHS.
Plaintiffs in both complaints represent a vast swath of American faith groups, representing millions of people in thousands of congregations.
ICE agents and federal law enforcement agencies have launched high-profile raids and enforcement actions across the country, fulfilling Trump’s campaign pledge to launch the largest “mass deportation operation” in American history.
Trump and his allies argued arrests would target immigrants who committed high-level crimes, but the administration later said it was treating all immigrants in the U.S. without legal permission as “criminals,” while ICE makes hundreds of daily arrests.
The administration has arranged deportation flights using U.S. military aircraft to Latin American countries, and has established the War on Terror military prison at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba as a detention facility, preventing access to attorneys and drawing international humanitarian fears of abuse and lack of due process.
