(The Guardian) Judge blocks Trump immigration policy allowing arrests in churches for some religious groups
A federal judge blocked immigration agents from conducting enforcement operations in houses of worship for Quakers and a handful of other religious groups, the Associated Press reports.
US district judge Theodore Chang found that the Trump administration policy could violate their religious freedom and should be blocked while a lawsuit challenging it plays out. The preliminary injunction from the Maryland-based judge only applies to the plaintiffs, which also include a Georgia-based network of Baptist churches and a Sikh temple in California.
They sued after the Trump administration threw out Department of Homeland Security policies limiting where migrant arrests could happen as Donald Trump seeks to make good on campaign promises to carry out mass deportations. The policy change said field agents using “common sense” and “discretion” can conduct immigration enforcement operations at houses of worship without a supervisor’s approval.
Plaintiffs’ attorneys argue that the new DHS directive departs from the government’s 30-year-old policy against staging immigration enforcement operations in “protected areas,” or “sensitive locations.”
Five Quaker congregations from Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Virginia sued DHS and its secretary, Kristi Noem, on 27 January less than a week after the new policy was announced.
Many immigrants are afraid to attend religious services while the government enforces the new rule, lawyers for the congregations said in a court filing. “It’s a fear that people are experiencing across the county,” plaintiffs’ attorney Bradley Girard told the judge during a February hearing. “People are not showing up, and the plaintiffs are suffering as a result.”
Government lawyers claim the plaintiffs are asking the court to interfere with law-enforcement activities based on mere speculation. “Plaintiffs have provided no evidence indicating that any of their religious organizations have been targeted,” Justice Department attorney Kristina Wolfe told the judge.
More than two dozen Christian and Jewish groups representing millions of Americans have also filed a similar but separate lawsuit in the state of Washington.
Plaintiffs in the Maryland case are represented by the Democracy Forward Foundation, whose lawyers asked the judge to block DHS enforcement of the policy on a nationwide basis.
A federal judge blocked immigration agents from conducting enforcement operations in houses of worship for Quakers and a handful of other religious groups, the Associated Press reports.
US district judge Theodore Chang found that the Trump administration policy could violate their religious freedom and should be blocked while a lawsuit challenging it plays out. The preliminary injunction from the Maryland-based judge only applies to the plaintiffs, which also include a Georgia-based network of Baptist churches and a Sikh temple in California.
They sued after the Trump administration threw out Department of Homeland Security policies limiting where migrant arrests could happen as Donald Trump seeks to make good on campaign promises to carry out mass deportations. The policy change said field agents using “common sense” and “discretion” can conduct immigration enforcement operations at houses of worship without a supervisor’s approval.
Plaintiffs’ attorneys argue that the new DHS directive departs from the government’s 30-year-old policy against staging immigration enforcement operations in “protected areas,” or “sensitive locations.”
Five Quaker congregations from Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Virginia sued DHS and its secretary, Kristi Noem, on 27 January less than a week after the new policy was announced.
Many immigrants are afraid to attend religious services while the government enforces the new rule, lawyers for the congregations said in a court filing. “It’s a fear that people are experiencing across the county,” plaintiffs’ attorney Bradley Girard told the judge during a February hearing. “People are not showing up, and the plaintiffs are suffering as a result.”
Government lawyers claim the plaintiffs are asking the court to interfere with law-enforcement activities based on mere speculation. “Plaintiffs have provided no evidence indicating that any of their religious organizations have been targeted,” Justice Department attorney Kristina Wolfe told the judge.
More than two dozen Christian and Jewish groups representing millions of Americans have also filed a similar but separate lawsuit in the state of Washington.
Plaintiffs in the Maryland case are represented by the Democracy Forward Foundation, whose lawyers asked the judge to block DHS enforcement of the policy on a nationwide basis.
