A coalition of protestant churches and groups are suing DHS for allegedly making it easier for ICE agents to arrest people at churches.
By Catholics for Catholics
In the latest turn in the immigration debacle, a coalition of Protestant churches and denominations sued President Donald Trump’s administration for allegedly making it easier for ICE agents to arrest people at houses of worship and other sensitive sites.
The National Catholic Register reported that the lawsuit, which was filed on July 28, was done by a coalition of protestant denominations after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security overturned the Biden’s administration guidelines that had barred ICE agents from doing immigration raids at churches and other sensitive locations. That is, lest there is consent from a supervisor or there is an urgent need to take enforcement action, such as an imminent threat.
But the Protestant coalition contends that the change in policy by the Trump Administration violates the First Amendment’s right to freedom of religion and two federal laws: the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the Administrative Procedure Act.
“Raids in churches and sacred spaces violate decades of norms in both Democratic and Republican administrations, core constitutional protections, and basic human decency,” Democracy Forward President and CEO Skye Perryman said in a statement. Democracy Forward is serving as co-counsel in the lawsuit.
The Register reported that the churches suing the administration include several synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America along with Quaker churches, Baptist churches, and community churches.
“Faith communities should not have to choose between their spiritual commitments and the safety of their congregants,” Perryman said. “Democracy Forward is honored to be alongside these religious leaders in court. We will not give up until this unlawful and dangerous policy is struck down.”
Nevertheless, a memo from DHS directed ICE agents to still preserve discretion and “balance a variety of interests” including the degree to which enforcement actions should be taken in one of those locations. It tells agents to use “a healthy dose of common sense.”
Tricia McLaughlin, DHS Assistant Secretary disputed the lawsuit’s narrative in a statement provided to CNA, saying that any enforcement in houses of worship would be “extremely rare.”
“Our officers use discretion,” she said. “Officers would need secondary supervisor approval before any action can be taken in locations such as a church or a school.”
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