More than two dozen faith groups from a range of religious traditions sued the Trump administration on Tuesday to fight back against a policy that may make immigration raids in churches more common.
The lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, claims that ICE raids in houses of worship violate federal religious freedom protections by making it harder for faith groups to minister to immigrants and refugees and live out their religious mission.
“The rescission of the sensitive locations policy is already substantially burdening the religious exercise of Plaintiffs’ congregations and members. Congregations are experiencing decreases in worship attendance and social services participation due to fear of immigration enforcement action,” the lawsuit says.
The Trump administration has not yet responded to the new lawsuit. But in a memo about immigration raids released Friday, officials at the Department of Justice argued that the federal government’s stance on church raids has not substantially changed.
“The memo said that immigration enforcement affecting houses of worship had been permitted for decades, and the new policy announced in January simply said that field agents — using ‘common sense’ and ‘discretion’ — could now conduct such operations without pre-approval from a supervisor,” per ABC News.
