27 religious organizations launched a federal lawsuit Tuesday against the Trump administration's decision to revoke longstanding protections that limited immigration enforcement at houses of worship, The Washington Post reported.
The lawsuit, filed in the District of Columbia, represents Christian and Jewish groups with millions of American members. The religious organizations argue that the policy change forces congregations to violate their religious obligations to protect immigrant congregants and has led to decreased attendance at services and social programs due to immigration enforcement concerns.
For decades, federal authorities maintained a policy against conducting immigration enforcement in "sensitive locations" or "protected areas." Immigration officials could only carry out operations near places of worship under emergency circumstances or with advance written approval from senior supervisors.
"Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America's schools and churches to avoid arrest," a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said when announcing the change. As part of President Donald Trump's renewed immigration enforcement push, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials received directives to increase daily arrests from several hundred to between 1,200 and 1,500.
The Department of Homeland Security issued a directive on Trump's first day in office instructing Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection officers to use "discretion along with a healthy dose of common sense" regarding enforcement at sensitive locations.
Schools, which were also designated as sensitive locations under the previous policy, have been working to assure immigrant parents that their children can safely attend classes, The Washington Post reported.
This legal challenge marks the second such case, following an earlier lawsuit filed in Maryland federal court by Quaker congregations and other religious groups including the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and a Sikh temple.
The plaintiffs include major religious denominations – Reform Judaism, Episcopalians, the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the African Methodist Episcopal Church – each representing over a million worshippers nationwide.
"Throughout Jewish history, we have known the hardship and persecution of living as immigrants," Rabbi Rick Jacobs of the Union for Reform Judaism said. "We are inspired by those experiences across the generations, as well as the repeated biblical commandment to welcome the stranger, to ensure that our congregations remain places where immigrants – including those who may be undocumented – can enter to worship, seek pastoral counsel, learn, socialize, obtain needed services and support, or to act as caregivers for those who do."
"Churches are, and have always been, places of prayer, solace, and safety since the time of Jesus Christ; this does not change with any new emperor, king, or president," Rev. Laura Everett, executive director of the Massachusetts Council of Churches, said.
The Justice Department responded Friday to the Maryland case, arguing that the plaintiffs' concerns were based on hypothetical scenarios. Officials noted that enforcement near religious buildings had been permitted for decades, with the only change being the removal of mandatory supervisory pre-approval.
