'Shatter the consecrated space': Trump administration sued over raids in churches

11 February

A coalition of nearly a dozen churches representing multiple faith traditions have collectively filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump's administration over its decision to conduct immigration raids in churches.

Politico legal correspondent Kyle Cheney initially reported on the lawsuit, which was filed Tuesday morning in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia. The complaint accuses multiple defendants — including the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), among others — of infringing on the First Amendment rights of worshippers by intruding on religious spaces to arrest immigrants. The suit also alleges that the Trump administration is violating the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

The plaintiffs, which include multiple Protestant Christian and Catholic congregations as well as Jewish-led organizations and Unitarian Universalist churches, argued that the previous ban on conducting immigration arrests in religious spaces should be restored, as many of their daily operations involving serving immigrant communities. This includes food and clothing pantries, English as a Second Language (ESL) classes, legal assistance and job training services.

"An immigration enforcement action during worship services, ministry work, or other congregational activities would be devastating to their religious practice," the complaint read. "It would shatter the consecrated space of sanctuary, thwart communal worship and undermine the social service outreach that is central to religious expression and spiritual practice for Plaintiffs’ congregations and members."

The complaint described a January raid at a church in Atlanta, Georgia, in which ICE agents pounded on the door during a worship service and demanded the congregation hand over Wilson Velásquez, who immigrated from Honduras with his wife, Kenia Colindres, in 2022. The two were fleeing gang warfare in their home country, and were granted asylum by former President Joe Biden's administration. Immigration officials gave Velásquez an ankle bracelet as part of his asylum agreement so his whereabouts would always be known.

“It’s disrespectful, what they did,” Colindres told Christianity Today in Spanish. “With the bracelet they could find him anywhere.”

During his 2024, Trump ran on launching a widespread mass deportation program and promised to start deporting immigrants on day one of his administration. The implementation of that program has ensnared innocent people, including one U.S. citizen and military veteran in Newark, New Jersey last month.

Click here to read the full complaint.

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