On Friday, a federal judge allowed immigration agents to enforce the Trump administration’s new policy at places of religious worship despite a lawsuit filed by religious groups.
U.S. District Court Judge Dabney Friedrich denied a preliminary injunction to the plaintiffs, including more than 20 Christian and Jewish groups representing millions of Americans.
She found that only a handful of immigration enforcement actions have been conducted in or around churches or other houses of worship and that the evidence doesn’t show “that places of worship are being singled out as special targets.”
The policy, they said, violated their rights to practice religion. Since President Donald Trump was inaugurated in January 2017, attendance at church has decreased significantly. Some places have seen a double-digit drop.
The judge determined that, although the groups claimed their actions were related to the church policy, they showed that they were more likely to be linked to an increase in action by Immigration and Customs Enforcement or other agencies.
Friedrich, the Republican president’s appointee for his first term, wrote: “This evidence indicates that congregants remain at home because they do not want to be confronted by ICE in their neighborhood and not because synagogues or churches pose a higher risk. “
She concluded that changing the policy regarding places of worship wouldn’t necessarily result in immigrants returning to church.
On Jan. 20, the first day of Trump’s presidency, his administration reversed the DHS’s policy. It was a policy that limited the places where migrants could be arrested.
The plaintiffs’ attorneys claimed that the Homeland Security Directive is a departure from the 30-year-old government policy prohibiting immigration enforcement to be staged in “sensitive areas” or “protected zones”. “
In Maryland, in February, a federal judge ruled against Trump’s administration in an identical case to one brought by Quakers or religious groups. The ruling of U.S. District Judge Theodore Chang only applied to plaintiffs in this case.
In a separate lawsuit, a Colorado court sided with the government to reverse a policy that had reduced the number of arrests for immigration in schools.
