Judge denies religious groups’ suit to halt immigrant arrests at churches, worship sites
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CNA Staff, Apr 15, 2025 / 14:57 pm (CNA).
A federal judge has denied an attempt by religious groups to halt the government’s policy of broadly allowing immigration officials to arrest suspected illegal immigrants at houses of worship.
U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich said in an April 11 memorandum opinion that the religious plaintiffs — which included the Mennonite Church, the Episcopal Church, the Friends General Conference, and several Jewish groups including the New York-based Rabbinical Assembly — had “not established a substantial likelihood” of success in their suit against the federal government.
The suit originally arose in February after the Department of Homeland Security under President Donald Trump rescinded Biden-era guidelines that required Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to seek their superior’s approval before arresting people at or near “sensitive locations” such as churches, hospitals, or schools.
The groups argued that the revised policy was “substantially burdening the religious exercise” of their respective congregations and members, including through decreases in attendance.
In her ruling, Freidrich said the decline in attendance was “not fairly traceable” to the Trump administration’s rescission of the Biden-era guidelines.
Re-implementing the Biden rules, she said, “would not mitigate the risks cited by congregants of leaving their homes generally, or of traveling to or from religious services.” The Biden-era rules “create[d] no legally enforceable rights” and conferred “only limited protections” against arrests, she pointed out.
Evidence “suggests that congregants are staying home to avoid encountering ICE in their own neighborhoods, not because churches or synagogues are locations of elevated risk,” the judge wrote.
It is not clear if the plaintiffs plan to file an appeal to the ruling. Attorneys representing the religious groups did not immediately respond to CNA’s request for comment.
The Trump administration’s immigration rules have generated both legal action and public criticism, including from U.S. Catholic leaders.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said in a January statement that “non-emergency immigration enforcement” in places such as churches and schools “would be contrary to the common good.”
“With the mere rescission of the protected areas guidance, we are already witnessing reticence among immigrants to engage in daily life, including sending children to school and attending religious services,” the bishops argued at the time.
In February, Pope Francis wrote to the U.S. bishops arguing that immigration laws and policies should be subordinated to the dignified treatment of people, especially the most vulnerable.
The letter, which was widely viewed as a rebuke to the Trump administration, acknowledged that the just treatment of immigrants does not impede the development of policies to regulate orderly and legal migration.
But “what is built on the basis of force and not on the truth about the equal dignity of every human being begins badly and will end badly,” the pope argued.