A handful of progressive religious groups, including Christian and Jewish organizations, have sued the Trump Administration over proposed changes to immigration policy. The new rules would allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to conduct raids on so-called ‘sensitive’ locations, such as schools, hospitals, and churches.
“An immigration enforcement action during worship services, ministry work, or other congregational activities would be devastating to their religious practice,” the lawsuit states. “It would shatter the consecrated space of sanctuary, thwart communal worship, and undermine the social service outreach that is central to religious expression and spiritual practice for Plaintiffs’ congregations and members.”
Jim Wallis, director of Georgetown University’s Center on Faith and Justice, said this new rule “Is an egregious assault on free exercise of religion in violation of both the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.” He added, “The filing of this lawsuit, which brings together many denominations and traditions across many boundaries, marks a new chapter in the historic legacy of faith communities standing up for their scriptural obligations in defense of religious liberty and justice for the most marginalized and vulnerable.”
“Traditions offer irrefutable unanimity on their religious obligation to embrace and serve the refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants in their midst without regard to documentation or legal status,” said Kelsi Corkran, lead counsel for plaintiffs. “We look forward to presenting our case in court.”She thinks that the new ruling is a violation of the First Amendment.
“The Department of Homeland Security’s abrupt decision to rescind the sensitive locations policy and subject places of worship to immigration enforcement action is a clear violation of Plaintiffs’ rights under the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act,” Corkran concluded. The document that proceeded the lawsuit was published by the DHS.
In the official statement, the DHS said,” Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman issued two directives essential to ending the invasion of the US southern border and empower law enforcement to protect Americans. ” The releases went into the specifics of each change: “The first directive rescinds the Biden Administration’s guidelines for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) enforcement actions that thwart law enforcement in or near so-called “sensitive” areas.”
“The second directive ends the broad abuse of humanitarian parole and returns the program to a case-by-case basis. ICE and CBP will phase out any parole programs that are not in accordance with the law,” the report added. It included direct quotes from the acting secretary. “This action empowers the brave men and women in CBP and ICE to enforce our immigration laws and catch criminal aliens—including murders and [abusers] —who have illegally come into our country.”
She added, “Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest. The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense.” The report continued to blast the Biden admin and their lax border policy. The report concluded, “The Biden-Harris Administration abused the humanitarian parole program to indiscriminately allow 1.5 million migrants to enter our country. This was all stopped on day one of the Trump Administration.”