Christian and Jewish religious groups join forces in a lawsuit against migrant arrests in places of worship

More than two dozen Christian and Jewish religious groups, representing millions of believers in the United States, filed a lawsuit in a federal court in the District of Columbia on Tuesday against Donald Trump’s deportation campaign, which allows immigration agents to enter places of worship to make arrests.

The plaintiffs, which include the Mennonite Church, the Presbyterian Church, the Episcopal Church, the National Latino Christian Network, the Central Conference of American Rabbis and the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas, claim that allowing security forces enter their temples to conduct immigration enforcement violates the First Amendment, which guarantees the right to freely practice religion.

“Congregations are experiencing declines in worship attendance and participation in social services due to fear of ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement], and they are in this position where they have to choose whether to continue to welcome and encourage undocumented individuals into their places of worship in accordance with their religious mission, knowing that they will be exposing them to detention and deportation,” argues Kelsi Corkran, lead counsel for the plaintiffs. “Either option would violate their religious exercise. That is why it is a violation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the First Amendment.”

The lawsuit Mennonite United States v. Department of Homeland Security was filed in Washington, D.C. by the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection (ICAP) at Georgetown Law Center. It is the response of religious leaders to the Trump administration’s offensive, which, in order to carry out the largest deportation in history, has allowed immigration agents to cross boundaries that once seemed untouchable after rescinding the government’s sensitive locations policy.

Churches and other places of worship, along with hospitals and schools, have for decades been considered “sensitive locations,” which protected them from immigration raids. Trump lifted that ban as soon as he took office on January 20, and his “border czar,” Tom Homan, has already ordered arrests at churches.

The lawsuit claims the new policy is creating fear, which is reducing attendance at worship services and other church programs. The result is that the religious freedom of groups is infringed upon, specifically their ability to serve migrants, including those who are in the U.S. illegally.

“The Bible and Christian theology and the tradition of the Church are clear and unanimous about the obligation of Christians to welcome, serve and protect the undocumented immigrant among us. In our commitment to follow the teachings of Jesus, we affirm God’s mandate and responsibility to safeguard and nurture all of God’s children, without exception,” said the Reverend Carlos Malavé, president of the Latino Christian National Network, in a joint appearance before the media.

Trump had assured that deportations would initially be limited to migrants with criminal records, but the reality is that any undocumented person is susceptible to deportation, anywhere. Homan has already declared that deportations will be carried out across the country, without any regard for any directive from the previous administration.

On Tuesday, Pope Francis sent a letter to the bishops of the United States in which he harshly criticizes Trump’s immigration policy and warns that “what is built on the basis of force, and not on the truth about the equal dignity of every human being, begins badly and will end badly.”

The lawsuit addresses the case of Wilson Velasquez, who was arrested while attending a religious service at a church outside Atlanta. Velasquez is Honduran and had traveled to the United States with his wife and three children in 2022, requesting asylum as soon as he crossed the border. He was released after having a GPS tracking monitor placed on his ankle. He had attended all required checks at an ICE office in Atlanta and had a date scheduled to present his asylum case before a judge. ICE agents arrested him anyway and claimed they were “looking for people with ankle bracelets.”

“There is a direct risk of government intrusion into sacred spaces,” says Rabbi Rick Jacobs of the Union of Reform Judaism. “The history of the Jewish people is one in which, due to religious persecution, we were forced, time and again, to flee the lands in which we resided. That is why we value the American commitment to religious freedom, allowing us and all people the ability to worship and live the teachings of our faith without government interference.”

The plaintiffs’ fear is not limited to raids on their religious services. In addition to spiritual guidance, many of these groups offer other services to the community, such as educational classes, meal delivery, child care, shelter and counseling for migrants. The fear of being detained is already causing absenteeism.

Pastor Malavé emphasizes that Latinos are the most affected. “There are churches across the country that have been canceling different services, such as English as a Second Language classes, because people cannot risk going to those places right now.” “My mother, who is 84 years old, is even afraid to go to Walmart,” he says.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition