One day after federal immigration agents arrested a man at a church in Georgia, a coalition of Quaker meetings filed suit in federal court to block the Department of Homeland Security raids at houses of worship.
The new policy of the Trump administration reverses previous federal policy that marked houses of worship and schools as off-limits for immigration raids and arrests. The actions are part of the new administration’s swift actions to create mass deportations of illegal immigrants.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on what happened Sunday at Iglesia Fuente de Vida in Dekalb County, Ga.
Wilson Velásquez, his wife and three children have attended the church for the past two years since arriving in the Atlanta area. According to the AJC, the family crossed the border illegally as a unit in September 2022. They were released and allowed to pursue an asylum case inside the country. They fled their home country of Honduras because they had been threatened by gangs.
Screencap from Atlanta TV news of Pastor Luis Ortiz being interviewed about the ICE arrest at his church Sunday.
They went to Atlanta because they had relatives there. According to Kenia Velásquez, the family kept every check-in appointment with the Atlanta ICE office and her husband took care of the ankle monitor placed on him at the border.
Last year, her husband received a U.S. work permit, a benefit for which unauthorized migrants are eligible after six months of filing an asylum application. He was working at a tire shop — he thought legally — and providing for the family.
But the Trump administration has sought to roll back protections previously afforded by the Biden administration and has begun rounding up not the criminals Trump campaigned on deporting but immigrants like Velásquez who thought they had proper credentials.
He was among an estimated 1,000 immigrants rounded up by ICE over the weekend and slated for deportation. Now, his wife doesn’t know how she’ll provide for her children, ages 7, 9 and 13.
On Sunday, just as the pastor’s sermon was nearing its end, Wilson Velásquez’s ankle monitor started beeping. To avoid disrupting the service, he left the church sanctuary to find immigration agents waiting for him.
Kenia Velásquez ran outside to help. But her husband already was in handcuffs in the backseat of a law enforcement vehicle. She watched as her husband was driven away from the church.
At no previous point was Velásquez identified as a dangerous criminal.
A federal spokesman told the AJC this arrest was part of “enhanced targeted operations” aimed to “enforce U.S. immigration law and preserve public safety and national security by keeping potentially dangerous criminal aliens out of our communities.”
At no previous point was Velásquez identified as a dangerous criminal.
Now, the change in government policy that made this church raid possible is the target of a lawsuit filed by Democracy Forward on behalf of plaintiffs Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, New England Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, Baltimore Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, Adelphi Friends Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends and Richmond Friends Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends.
According to Democracy Forward, the Trump administration policy “is already sowing fear within migrant-friendly congregations and has led to cancelations in worship services out of fear.” The suit alleges the Trump policy violates the First Amendment and other protections.
Skye Perryman
The suit alleges the presence of armed government agents at or near houses of worship is disruptive to the plaintiffs’ ability to freely associate and worship. The suit also alleges the abrupt shift in policy violates federal law’s prohibition against agencies of the federal government acting arbitrarily and capriciously.
“A week ago today, President Trump swore an oath to defend the Constitution and yet today religious institutions that have existed since the 1600s in our country are having to go to court to challenge what is a violation of every individual’s Constitutional right to worship and associate freely,” said Skye Perryman, president of Democracy Forward. “Our team is honored to represent Quaker meetings that have been at the forefront in protecting values of religious liberty for centuries and will urge the court to act swiftly to halt this unlawful and harmful policy.”
This is not a new idea for Quakers, according to a statement from the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting: “Since our yearly meeting’s founding in 1682, and since William Penn arrived in Pennsylvania, we have protected space for Quakers and other religious minorities to practice their religion. … Our faith requires us to do justice, oppose war and violence, love our neighbors (with no exceptions) and to make decisions with everyone in the room. Everyone’s faith requires being with their faith family. The DHS policy impedes all of these things and invades our sacred space and ability to worship freely. We are committed to continuing what we started more than 300 years ago — ensuring that people can practice their religion.”
Paul Raushenbush
Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, president of Interfaith Alliance, applauded the lawsuit.
“As a Baptist minister and president of an organization dedicated to religious freedom, I welcome this lawsuit and urge the federal judiciary to quickly block Trump’s attack on churches,” he said. “Nobody should fear for the safety of themselves and their families when going to church. This order is intrusive government overreach that violates the sanctity of our sanctuaries. Our tradition of religious freedom in the United States demands that the government not inhibit the free exercise of religion.
“It’s not just migrants who are at risk of losing their religious freedom rights under the Trump administration, but Christians and people of faith across the United States who are called to care for immigrants,” he continued. “The Trump administration has dangerously put pastors and lay leaders at risk of being prosecuted for simply carrying out their churches’ Matthew 25 obligation to welcome immigrants. The Trump administration and the U.S. Supreme Court often highlights religious freedom as a priority. Today’s lawsuit challenges the sincerity of those beliefs.”
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