Judge blocks immigration raids at religious groups suing Trump administration

[Jose Garcia]

Source: The Hill

A federal judge Monday blocked the Trump administration from conducting immigration raids at Quaker, Baptist and Sikh places of worship that are suing over its new enforcement policy.

Policy guidance long instructed federal immigration authorities to avoid enforcement operations in certain “protected areas,” such as schools and places of worship, but the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rescinded that guidance after President Trump retook the White House.

U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang, an appointee of former President Obama overseeing the religious groups’ lawsuit challenging the rescission, said his ruling doesn’t conclusively resolve whether the move complies with the First Amendment and the groups’ religious protections provided under federal law.

“The Court finds only that at this early stage of the case, on the sensitive and fraught issue of when and under what circumstances law enforcement may intrude into places of worship to conduct warrantless operations, the 2025 Policy’s lack of any meaningful limitations or safeguards on such activity likely does not satisfy these constitutional and statutory requirements as to Plaintiffs, and that a return to the status quo is therefore warranted until the exact contours of what is necessary to avoid unlawful infringement on religious exercise are determined later in this case,” Chuang wrote in his ruling.

Read more: https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5161245-trump-immigration-crackdown-ice-raids-churches-temples-schools-dhs-southern-border/

[BumRushDaShow]

1. I think this was the case that the Quakers were part of

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143382316

Took almost a month to get to this point!

[RandomNumbers]

2. Yes - Inky article here:

https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia/immigration-raids-quakers-houses-worship-lawsuit-20250224.html

A federal judge on Monday paused changes to U.S. Department of Homeland Security policy that would allow immigration enforcement agents to enter some houses of worship.

The order affects Quaker, Sikh, and Baptist congregations throughout the country, including Quakers in Philadelphia, affiliated with the lawsuit.

...

The Quakers, who were later joined by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and the Sikh Temple Sacramento, asked a federal judge to issue a preliminary injunction blocking the implementation of the new sensitive locations.

Chuang instructed the groups that brought the lawsuit to provide DHS with a list of houses of worship affiliated to them to ensure that no warrantless immigration enforcement actions take place there.

“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,” Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, the legal services nonprofit representing the religious group in the case, said in a statement Monday.

[BumRushDaShow]

3. I also finally heard it on the radio (KYW) this afternoon here in Philly...

I know there are a bunch of Quaker Meeting Houses in the city and surrounding area (one of them serves as my "in person" voting precinct although I do mail ballots nowadays... but did go vote there at least once before the mail ballots law was enacted )!