Open and joyful expressions of faith are being replaced by fear and isolation due to immigrant enforcement raids at American houses of worship, according to an amended lawsuit aimed at the Trump administration.
The original action was filed last July by Democracy Forward, the Washington LawyersŌĆÖ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs and Gilbert LLC on behalf of the Alliance of Baptists, American Baptist Churches USA and 11 religious jurisdictions.
The amended complaint filed June 4 added at least 10 new plaintiffs, including the District of Columbia Baptist Convention and the Metro D.C. Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Altogether, the plaintiffs represent more than 7,000 congregations.
ŌĆ£Congregations, whose faith requires them to welcome all with open hearts, have been forced to lock their doors and train staff on how to handle potential immigration raids,ŌĆØ the Washington LawyersŌĆÖ Committee stated. ŌĆ£There is no justification for the government to put people of faith in these impossible situations. Decades of history show that immigration enforcement can be accomplished without raiding churches.ŌĆØ
ŌĆ£Decades of history show that immigration enforcement can be accomplished without raiding churches.ŌĆØ
In February, a federal court in Massachusetts issued an injunction in the case, blocking Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other Department of Homeland Security branches from conducting raids at or around certain houses of worship. But the amended New England Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in American, et al., v. Department of Homeland Security includes instances of immigration actions that have jarred clergy and congregations.
As enforcement efforts have accelerated across the country, ŌĆ£federal agents have become an increasingly common presence at houses of worship,ŌĆØ the suit contends. Examples include a man seized in front of a Los Angeles church while a rifle was pointed at a pastor. Another describes the detention of a grandfather as he dropped off his granddaughter at a church school.
The amended lawsuit states: ŌĆ£As a result, people across the country, regardless of immigration status, reasonably fear attending houses of worship. Churches have seen both attendance and financial giving plummet. Congregations have gone underground to protect their parishioners, eschewing in-person meetings central to their faith. Baptisms that previously would have been occasions for communal worship and celebration are now being held in private.ŌĆØ
The governmentŌĆÖs use of surveillance, interrogations and arrests in religious settings has chilled ministry participation and interfered with the freedom to follow religious practices including welcoming strangers, the lawsuit contends.
ŌĆ£Families are making hard choices about which parent gets to practice their religion communally and which stays home, so that their children have at least one caregiver should the other be detained at Sunday service. Churches have quietly stopped advertising immigrant-focused ministries and have canceled programming that served immigrant populations who are now too fearful to attend. Congregations whose faith compels them to worship with open doors and open arms have suddenly had to lock those doors and train their staff on how to respond to immigration raids.ŌĆØ