More than two dozen Christian and Jewish groups are suing the Department of Homeland Security over President Donald Trump’s decision to allow law enforcement raids and arrests in churches and other sensitive locations.
“Plaintiffs’ religious scripture, teaching, and traditions offer clear, repeated, and irrefutable unanimity on their obligation to embrace, serve, and defend the refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants in their midst without regard to documentation or legal status,” the groups write in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit was filed by Georgetown University’s Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection, on behalf of 27 national denominations, regional bodies, and organizational coalitions.
The filing comes nearly a month after Trump’s decision to rescind a long-standing policy that restricted Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other agencies from performing immigration arrests or raids in “sensitive locations.” NBC News had reported Trump’s plan in December, which he carried out on the first day of his presidency.
In a press conference on Tuesday, religious leaders explained why they chose to become plaintiffs in the lawsuit despite the risk of backlash or retaliation from the president or his supporters.
Iris de León-Hartshorn, an associate director for Mennonite Church USA, said the denomination didn’t join litigation lightly, but found that it was “probably the best course of action to advocate for our religious freedom to worship and minister in our communities as followers of Jesus.”
She spoke about the tradition of “nonresistance,” held to by Mennonites and other Anabaptists. While the term has always been debated, historically Anabaptist groups have refused to serve in war and been hesitant to use politics as a forum for influence.
