Faith groups sue Trump administration to block immigration raids at houses of worship

A coalition of faith groups led by Worcester's New England Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America sued the Trump administration Monday to to block immigration raids at houses of worship.

The suit, filed Monday at a Worcester federal court, alleges that the raids violate the constitutional right to religious freedom. It names the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees immigration enforcement, and Secretary Kristi Noem as defendants.

In January, the Trump administration gave ICE agents wider latitude to conduct enforcement activities at churches, schools and other areas, which for years were avoided because they were deemed "sensitive locations," the suit states. Under the new directive, agents are allowed to decide whether to enter these areas based on “common sense,” according to a memo issued by a top administrator at the agency.

The faith groups are asking a judge to declare the current DHS policy unconstitutional and to issue a preliminary injunction against further enforcement at houses of worship.

“We come to church to experience God’s love proclaimed in Jesus Christ and not to experience a raid by armed members of the government,” Bishop Nathan Pipho of the New England Synod said in a written statement. The regional body represents 155 congregations.

The coalition of faith groups includes other regional synods, several Quaker and Baptist groups and the Metropolitan Community Churches, which has a congregation in Boston. Democracy Forward, a Washington, D.C.-based legal organization, is suing DHS on behalf of the groups.

In a written statement, DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said the agency’s enforcement policy keeps “criminal aliens” and “gang members” from using churches or schools as safe havens. She did not cite churches or schools where such activity has taken place.

"DHS’s directive gives our law enforcement the ability to do their jobs,” McLaughlin said in the statement. Officers need approval by a supervisor before they may take action at a church or school, she added.

The complaint cites immigration arrests at churches outside the state, but none in Massachusetts. It does reference a news account that described ICE appearing at a faith-based charity’s food distribution drive in Milton, and another that said families who receive services at a Chelsea service agency attend church in separate groups so both parents are not deported at the same time.