Feb. 24 (UPI) — A federal judge on Monday blocked agents from carrying out immigration enforcement actions at places of worship for Quakers, Cooperative Baptists and Sikhs.
These religious groups had filed a lawsuit challenging President Trump’s rescinding of a Biden-era memo that barred immigration arrests at certain protected locations. Trump made the action on his first day in office on Jan. 20.
U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang of Maryland, in a 59-page opinion, granted a request for a narrow preliminary injunction sought by them as they pursue their challenge to Trump’s directive allowing federal immigration authorities to conduct enforcement actions at places of worship.
Chuang was the first judge to weigh in on several cases challenging the immigration policy.
The order by the appointee of President Barack Obama only applies to houses of worship owned or used by the challengers.
They had argued that the new policy allowing immigration arrests violates their First Amendment rights and burdens the free exercise of religion under federal law.
Chuang found that houses of worship attended by the three religious communities caused reductions in attendance by not only undocumented immigrants but also those with legal status who fear they may be mistaken for unauthorized immigrants.
He said the new policy likely violates the faith groups’ rights under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the First Amendment.
“Where plaintiffs’ communal religious exercise will be significantly and adversely affected by reductions in attendance resulting from immigration enforcement actions pursuant to the 2025 policy, armed law enforcement officers operating in or at places of worship pursuant to the 2025 policy will adversely affect the ability of Quakers and Sikhs to follow their religious beliefs or worship freely,” Chuang wrote.
The judge ordered the Trump administration to reinstate the 2021 memorandum from then-Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas that barred the department and its components from taking enforcement action in certain places that “require special protection,” including schools, medical facilities or places of worship.
Arrests in or near places of worship can be conducted when authorized by a warrant.
“For decades, the government has recognized that everyone — no matter their immigration status – should be able to attend houses of worship without fear of a warrantless government raid. Religious institutions should not have to go to court to fight for the right to worship and associate freely that is enshrined in our Constitution,” Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward said in a statement.
Homeland Security, in a news press release on Jan. 21, said “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 Religious Society of Friends has practiced the Quaker faith in the United States since the 1600s. There are under 55,000 Quakers in the nation. “Quakers believe that the testimony to equality should determine our treatment of migrants and asylum seekers,” Quakers in the World said on its website.
The two other places are worship have many immigrants.
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship includes more than 1,400 congregations.
The Sikh Temple is near Sacramento, Calif., which is made up of roughly 30,000 people.
U.s. Immigration and Customs Enforcement hasn’t listed an updated number of arrests. After two weeks, it was 4,422 total new detainees, according to data obtained by NBC News.
Designated sanctuary areas, including cities, counties and states, limit or refuse to cooperate with the federal government’s enforcement of immigration law. They protect immigrants from deportation and allow them to engage with law enforcement without fear of reprisal.
Other court decisionsDistrict Judge Deborah Boardman temporarily blocked the Department of Education and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management from sharing some sensitive government data with representatives of the Department of Government Efficiency.
“The continuing, unauthorized disclosure of plaintiffs’ sensitive personal information to DOGE affiliates is irreparable harm that money damages cannot rectify,” a Maryland-based appointee of President Joe Biden, wrote Monday in a 33-page ruling.
Unions representing roughly 2 million people sued over DOGE’s access to the data.
Boardman didn’t extend her restraining order to records held by the Treasury Department, noting that another judge has already blocked DOGE personnel from accessing those databases.U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden declined to temporarily restore the Associated Press’ access to some of Trump’s events, including the Oval Office and Air Force One.
McFadden, a District of Columbia judge appointed by President Donald Trump in his first term, scheduled a hearing for March 20 to hear arguments over the AP’s request for a preliminary injunction. The worldwide wire service continues to call the body of water Gulf of Mexico though Trump renamed it Gulf of America in an executive order.
