In a resounding victory for law and order, a federal judge has upheld a Trump immigration policy allowing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to carry out enforcement operations at churches and other places of worship—dealing a sharp blow to progressive religious groups who sought to shield illegal immigrants from the consequences of breaking U.S. law.
A coalition of left-leaning religious organizations filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), objecting to the Trump administration’s decision to reinstate common-sense immigration enforcement actions in and around churches and places of worship.
At the center of the legal complaint is the Trump administration’s directive, issued on the first day of the new term, ending the Obama-Biden-era policies that shielded illegal immigrants from enforcement in places of worship, schools, and hospitals.
The DHS memo now allows ICE and CBP agents to exercise discretion and act in accordance with the law — regardless of location.
U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich, a Trump appointee, denied the lawsuit brought by 27 left-leaning Christian and Jewish organizations who claimed the policy violates religious liberty and has contributed to declining attendance.
The court disagreed, stating that there is little evidence ICE is targeting religious institutions or that the policy alone is responsible for attendance drops.
“The plaintiffs have not shown that enforcement actions are imminent at their places of worship,” Friedrich wrote, systematically dismantling claims that ICE was targeting congregations.
“Absent evidence of specific directives to immigration officers to target plaintiffs’ places of worship, or a pattern of enforcement actions, the Court finds no credible threat of imminent enforcement.”
The judge noted that any decline in attendance was more likely due to broader immigration enforcement — not the specific policy change in question.
“That 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,” Judge Friedrich concluded.
The court highlighted that only one enforcement action took place at a plaintiff church since the policy change, with just two additional incidents at unrelated church campuses — all within a nationwide enforcement campaign focused on restoring law and order after years of chaos at the border.
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