Afternoon light shines on the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service Processing Center in El Centro, California, on May 27, 2022. (Getty photos)
More than two dozen religious groups, including the North Carolina Council of Churches, filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Department of Homeland Security challenging the Trump administration’s reversal of a policy that barred Immigration and Customs Enforcement from conducting raids at houses of worship.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington D.C., is seeking injunctions to prevent DHS from conducting enforcement actions in places of worship without exigent circumstances or a judicial warrant.
The faith groups say the new policy has driven declines in worship attendance and social service participation due to fears of ICE raids. By allowing ICE raids at religious sites, the administration’s move threatens the sanctity of worship and the ability of faith communities to serve immigrants and refugees, according to the plaintiffs.
The shift also violates the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act by threatening the ability of faith communities to serve immigrants and refugees, according to the lawsuit.
“Whatever interest DHS has in enforcing immigration law, it cannot meet its burden here of demonstrating that its interference with plaintiffs’ religious practices is the least restrictive means of serving that interest,” said Kelsi Corkran, lead counsel for plaintiffs during a Zoom meeting with reporters on Wednesday.
“One of the most frequent directives found in the Bible is caring for those who come to us from another place,” said the Rev. Jennifer Copeland, executive director of the North Carolina Council of Churches, in a statement. “Not to be allowed to do so is to be denied a basic tenet of our faith.”
The plaintiffs include 12 national denominational bodies, 4 regional denominational bodies, and 11 denominational and interdenominational associations rooted in Jewish and Christian faiths.
In a separate but similar case, the U.S. District Court of Maryland will hear arguments Wednesday morning in a suit seeking a temporary restraining order to block the policy, arguing it violates the First Amendment and unlawfully burdens religious freedom.
Filed by Democracy Forward on behalf of a multi-faith coalition— including the 1,400-church Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, Sikh Temple Sacramento and six Quaker groups — the lawsuit claims the policy reversal forces congregations to choose between welcoming undocumented immigrants as their faith requires or exposing them to enforcement.
Sikh Temple Sacramento board member Amar Shergill said the policy undermines communal worship: “Allowing immigration enforcement activities at Gurdwaras is already preventing some from attending, which harms the entire Sangat.” The coalition warns the policy deters attendance, fractures ministries and contradicts historic religious freedoms.
The group said it is seeking immediate relief to prevent “grave harm” the policy is causing to worshippers.
The 27 plaintiffs in the suit filed Tuesday include: the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in North Carolina; the North Carolina Council of Churches; the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church; Mennonite Church USA in Indiana; Central Atlantic Conference United Church of Christ in Maryland; the Central Conference of American Rabbis in New York; Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Indiana; Church of the Brethren in Illinois; Convención Bautista Hispana de Texas; the Episcopal Church in New York; Fellowship Southwest in Texas; Friends General Conference of Pennsylvania; Presbyterian Church (USA) in Kentucky; General Commission on Religion and Race of the United Methodist Church in Washington, D.C.; Latino Christian National Network in Texas; Massachusetts Council of Churches; the New York Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church; New York State Council of Churches; the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church; the Rabbinical Assembly in New York; Reconstructing Judaism in Pennsylvania; Rhode Island State Council of Churches; Union for Reform Judaism in New York; Unitarian Universalist Association in Massachusetts; the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism in New York; the Wisconsin Council of Churches; and WISDOM of Wisconsin.
Ariana Figueroa of States Newsroom contributed to this report.