Quaker groups sued on Monday to prevent U.S. immigration agents from carrying arrests and searches in houses of worship, after the Trump Administration rescinded guidance that protected churches and schools from his mass deportation campaign.
Last week, President Donald Trump's acting secretary of Homeland Security rescinded a Biden Administration order that limited immigration enforcement in "protected areas," including hospitals, shelters, playgrounds or food pantries.
Trump has pledged to deport millions of people who are undocumented, and the Department of Homeland Security said the policy change would mean that undocumented people would no longer be able to stay in churches to avoid arrest.
The Department of Justice declined to comment. DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit by five Quaker groups said the policy was infringing their right to practice their religion by sowing fear among congregations and leading to the cancellation of services. It said the prior guidance of avoiding arrests and searches in protected areas had stood for 30 years.
"The very threat of government officials wearing ICE-emblazoned jackets outside of our religious service will have a significant impact on our communities and ability to practice our faith," said a statement from Baltimore Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, one of the five Quaker groups behind the lawsuit.
The complaint said the policy violated the Quakers' rights under the U.S. Constitution, as well as administrative law and a law that protects religious freedom.
The Quakers asked U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang in Greenbelt, Maryland, to declare the policy unconstitutional and prevent agents from carrying out enforcement actions at places of worship.
There have been more than a dozen lawsuits filed that challenge Trump policies, but the Quaker lawsuit appears to be the first by a faith-based organization.
Under Joe Biden's administration, agents were directed to avoid arresting people or conducting other enforcement actions in protected areas, including shelters and hospitals to avoid discouraging people from seeking necessary food and medicine.
