Federal judge blocks ICE agents from certain arrests at places of worship

• A federal judge in Maryland has blocked ICE agents from entering certain places of worship. The ruling, however, does not apply nationwide.
• The plaintiffs argued that the new policy allowed immigration arrests at places previously considered protected, violating their First Amendment rights and burdening the free exercise of religion under federal law.
• This injunction only applies to the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. It does not prevent ICE from acting on administrative or judicial warrants.

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A federal judge in Maryland blocked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from entering certain places of worship. The ruling came down Monday, Feb. 24, and does not apply nationwide.

The lawsuit, filed in January by five Quaker congregations from Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Virginia, as well as a Georgia-based Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and a Sikh temple in California, challenged the directives of acting Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman. These directives rescinded a 2021 policy restricting ICE arrests in “sensitive areas.”

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U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang wrote, “Violations of this preliminary injunction shall subject defendants and all other persons bound by this order to all applicable penalties, including contempt of court.”

The plaintiffs argued that the new policy allowed immigration arrests at places that were previously considered protected, violating their First Amendment rights and burdening the free exercise of religion under federal law. They also contended that many immigrants are now afraid to attend religious services.

Monday’s decision orders the reinstatement of the 2021 memorandum for the three faith communities named in the lawsuit. The original memo barred immigration arrests at certain protected locations, including churches, schools and hospitals.

However, this injunction only applies to the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. It does not prevent ICE from acting on administrative or judicial warrants.

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More than two dozen Christian and Jewish groups representing millions of Americans have also filed a similar but separate lawsuit in the state of Washington.

Acting on President Donald Trump’s orders, immigration officials detained and deported more than 37,000 immigrants during the president’s first month in office.