Fellowship Southwest and the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas are among 27 religious bodies that filed suit against the Trump administration Feb. 11 to stop ICE agents from having access to houses of worship for immigration raids.
The multiparty lawsuit mirrors an earlier suit brought against the administration by a coalition of Quakers and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.
The new coalition includes Baptists, Brethren, Conservative Jews, Episcopalians, evangelicals, Mennonites, Quakers, Pentecostals, Presbyterians, Reconstructionist Jews, Reform Jews, Unitarian Universalists, United Methodists and Zion Methodists.
These religious bodies share a unified belief that “every human being, regardless of birthplace, is a child of God worthy of dignity, care and love,” the suit declares. “Welcoming the stranger, or immigrant, is thus a central precept of their faith practices.”
“Welcoming the stranger, or immigrant, is thus a central precept of their faith practices.”
Some of the most well-known religious bodies in America are party to the case, including the Mennonite Church, the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, the United Church of Christ, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the Episcopal Church, the Presbyterian Church (USA) and The United Methodist Church, along with other regional Jewish and Christian groups.
Trump Border Czar Tom Homan has said the government will conduct immigration enforcement actions “across the country, uninhibited by any prior administration guidelines” and while targeting even undocumented immigrants with no criminal records.
One such action already occurred at a Georgia church, snaring an immigrant man who thought he had done everything right to seek asylum and gain documentation.
“Plaintiffs’ congregations and members face an imminent risk of similar immigration enforcement actions at their places of worship,” the suit contends. “Consistent with their call to welcome and serve all people, many have undocumented congregants and many offer social service ministries — such as food and clothing pantries, English as a Second Language classes, legal assistance, and job training services — at their churches and synagogues that serve undocumented people. An immigration enforcement action during worship services, ministry work or other congregational activities would be devastating to their religious practice. 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 mere threat of immigration officials showing up at churches “is already substantially burdening the religious exercise” of these religious bodies, the suit continues. “Congregations are experiencing decreases in worship attendance and social services participation due to fear of immigration enforcement action. 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.”
The suit contends the Trump administration order violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the First Amendment.
The suit contends the Trump administration order violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the First Amendment. Under RFRA, government “shall not substantially burden a person’s exercise of religion even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability” unless the government demonstrates the burden is “the least restrictive means of furthering (a) compelling governmental interest.”
The suit states: “The burden imposed on plaintiffs’ religious exercise by the looming threat of immigration enforcement action at their places of worship and during their religious ceremonies is profound, as is the interference such action causes to plaintiffs’ expressive association. Whatever interest Department of Homeland Security has in enforcing immigration law, it cannot meet its burden of demonstrating that its interference with plaintiffs’ religious practices is the least restrictive means of serving that interest.”
DHS has offered no evidence suggesting the previous policy declaring churches and schools off limits for immigration raids “had allowed criminals to hide in churches, or otherwise had thwarted immigration enforcement,” the suit says. “Nor did it consider the reasons animating the unbroken policy that had, over multiple administrations of both major political parties, recognized the sanctity of houses of worship and the need to abstain from violating those sacred spaces, absent compelling and unusual circumstances.”
The Trump administration has “ignored the serious harms that will befall communities of faith and those they serve if the government now is free to conduct immigration enforcement actions at places of worship and during religious ceremonies,” the religious groups contend.
The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The earlier suit brought by Quakers and CBF was filed in in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.
Related articles:
CBF joins Quakers in lawsuit against ICE raids in churches
Quakers file suit to stop ICE raids at churches like what happened Sunday
‘My church may not be entered by federal agents, but it is not only my church that concerns me’ | Opinion by Rory Naeve
ICE raids in churches violate conservative principles | Opinion by David Bumgardner
SBC pastor opposes ICE raids in churches and gets labeled ‘woke’ by far right
Churches educating congregants on how to respond if ICE shows up