Three North Carolina faith groups representing 20 denominations and thousands of congregations have sued the Trump administration, saying its decision to send immigration agents into churches and synagogues violates their Constitutional right to religious freedom.
The N.C. Council of Churches, based in Raleigh and representing more than 6,000 churches and synagogues across the state; the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, based in Charlotte and representing 1,600 congregations across the country; and the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church, based in Huntersville and representing more than 600 churches in the western half of the state; filed the suit Tuesday in federal district court in the District of Columbia along with two dozen other U.S. faith groups.
What are churches asking the court to do?
The suit asks the court to stop the Department of Homeland Security, its agents or anyone working with them from acting on an agency directive of Jan. 21, 2025. The directive rescinded a longstanding policy limiting immigration enforcement in or near “sensitive areas” such as schools and churches.
In the past, immigration enforcement officers would only arrest undocumented people at schools and churches under exigent circumstances or on specific orders.
The Trump administration said the policy had thwarted law enforcement and that it was being rescinded so that, “Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest.”
According to news reports, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers then went to a church in Georgia during a worship service and arrested a Honduran man wearing an ankle monitor while awaiting a hearing on his asylum request. The lawsuit says the man had attended all of his required check-ins with ICE in Atlanta, but was told by the arresting agents they were simply “looking for people with ankle bracelets.”
Faith leaders from several of the plaintiff groups in the suit held an online press conference Tuesday and said the threat of people being arrested at churches and synagogues has made it impossible for congregations to follow one of the central tenets of their faith: welcoming and serving immigrants.
Several other lawsuits have been filed by religious groups making similar complaints.
