Baptist Joint Committee on Religious Liberty has joined the call for Congress to pass the Protecting Sensitive Locations Act “and hold ICE accountable by withholding their funding,” according to an email sent to supporters Jan. 28.
The religious liberty watchdog group sent the action alert urging recipients to “take action now” by contacting their members of Congress.
The Protecting Sensitive Locations Act (HR-1061 and S-455) is proposed federal legislation that would codify and expand restrictions on immigration enforcement (ICE and CBP) at sensitive locations. It aims to prevent enforcement actions — such as arrests, interviews, searches or surveillance — at places like hospitals, schools, places of worship, courthouses, DMVs and food pantries.
“Over the past year, ICE and the Trump administration have opened the door to immigration enforcement on church grounds, mass raids, guns being pointed at pastors, and the dehumanizing harassment of immigrant and refugee communities,” the BJC alert says.
“Our neighbors in Minneapolis — and in communities across the country — are living in fear, and they need our help,” the email says. “ICE is acting with impunity, and Congress needs to hold them accountable.”
“ICE is acting with impunity, and Congress needs to hold them accountable.”
The email notes the intersection of religious liberty and civil rights concerns in the Trump administration’s use of force in rounding up alleged criminals who are undocumented residents in the United States. Only a small percentage of those detained have turned out to be criminals of any kind.
“This pattern of impunity has ended lives, shattered families and chilled community life, culminating in the deaths of more than 30 people in ICE custody, the shooting of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and the growing inability of our neighbors to live, gather and worship without fear,” the email says. “Congress has the power and responsibility to protect religious freedom by protecting communities.”
The alert urges respondents to ask Congress to “hold ICE accountable by withholding funding” and pass the Protecting Sensitive Locations Act.
“Religious freedom is not just words on paper. It lives or dies in climates of fear, and preserving it now requires action,” the email warns.
The Senate will take up a funding bill this week that would include billions of dollars in funding for Customs and Border Control and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Democrats in the Senate have sworn they will block the bill as long as funding for ICE is included, which could lead to the second government shutdown of this Trump administration.
Just days before Pretti’s murder in Minneapolis, seven Democratic members of Congress voted with Republicans to advance the spending bill in the House, creating enormous backlash from their constituencies.
Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., now says he regrets his vote for the funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security.
“I failed to view the DHS funding vote as a referendum on the illegal and immoral conduct of ICE in Minneapolis,” he said in a statement Jan. 26. “I hear the anger from my constituents, and I take responsibility for that. I have long been critical of ICE’s unlawful behavior, and I must do a better job demonstrating that.”
In the House, that bill to provide $10 billion to ICE passed on a 220-207 vote. It would not have passed without the seven Democrats crossing over.
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