27 religious groups, including UCC Conference, file lawsuit challenging ICE action in churches

The Central Atlantic Conference of the United Church of Christ is among more than two dozen religious groups suing the Department of Homeland Security in response to a policy change that offers greater leeway for immigration enforcement in “sensitive locations,” including houses of worship.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit, who include a broad range of Christian and Jewish denominations and regional bodies, “have come together to file this suit because their scripture, teaching, and traditions offer irrefutable unanimity on their religious obligation to embrace and serve the refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants in their midst without regard to documentation or legal status,” said Kelsi Corkran, lead counsel for the plaintiffs from the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection.

The lawsuit, Mennonite Church USA et al. v. United States Department of Homeland Security et al., was filed on Feb. 11 in federal district court in Washington, D.C.

It names ways that churches and synagogues have already begun to experience the impact of the recent reversal of the “sensitive locations” policy, which previously restricted Immigration and Customs Enforcement from conducting immigration raids, arrests, and other enforcement actions at houses of worship. Several have noted decreases in attendance at worship and in services to the community, with congregants conveying fear about potential immigration action.

Houses of ‘service and care’

At the Reformed Church of Highland Park in New Jersey — a congregation within the UCC Central Atlantic Conference (CAC) and dually affiliated with the Reformed Church in America — these policy changes impact their extensive ministry to immigrants and refugees.

The church’s Co-Pastor, the Rev. Seth Kaper-Dale, is one of several CAC pastors who offered testimony for the lawsuit about how the policy change to sensitive locations impedes their ministries.

Through the congregation’s work with Interfaith-RISE (Refugee and Immigrant Services and Empowerment), at least 3,000 people are in the building each week, with most being immigrants and refugees, he said.

“Our building functions as a place not just of prayer, but of service and care all week long. This threat to sensitive locations makes people feel like the peace of mind that this is a safe place has gone away. And it’s not just in terms of government, but also in terms of reckless individuals who might feel a desire to charge into a church like they charged the Capitol. If Trump says that instead of ‘hands off,’ it will be ‘hands on’ at churches, schools, and hospitals, it creates a license for danger,” Kaper-Dale said.

An added consideration, he noted, is that “huge numbers of people who came legally are now on the verge of becoming ‘illegal’” with Trump administration plans to revoke the legal status of many migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.

While the Highland Park church has a long history of publicly offering sanctuary housing to immigrants, including for three men from Indonesia in 2018, they have decided not to offer this kind of sanctuary again to instead prioritize safety for the many people receiving services in the building.    

‘Ministry by way of advocacy’

Conference Minister Rev. Freeman Palmer said that for leadership and local churches of CAC, joining the lawsuit was not a difficult decision because of its wide resonance with the conference core values of “radical hospitality, inclusion, and diversity” and “prophetic witness and action.”

“We believe that raids conducted in churches violate the sanctity of our places of worship as sanctuaries of peace, spiritual refuge, and community support. Jesus declared in Matthew 21:13 that ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ and we call on authorities to respect these sacred spaces and seek justice through compassion rather than fear,” Palmer said.

The Rev. Marty Kuchma, senior pastor of Saint Paul’s UCC in Westminster, Maryland, shared that his CAC congregation offers a unique message of welcome in what he described as a very conservative area.

“The promise to extravagantly welcome absolutely everyone, no matter who they are or where they are on life’s journey, is at the very heart of our ministry,” he said. “Fear of ICE raids on church grounds will keep away people who are now especially in need of the unconditional love, belonging, and support we provide.”

CAC is among plaintiffs on the case collectively asserting that by subjecting their places of worship to ICE enforcement actions without judicial warrant or exigent circumstances, the government is interfering with their religious activities and their ability to fulfill their religious mandate to welcome and serve immigrants. The suit claims that this violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act — and that the rescission of the sensitive locations policy failed to comply with minimum standards required to change an agency policy.

“This lawsuit acts as an important means of ministry by way of advocacy,” Palmer said. “Joining as a plaintiff in this action enables CAC to be part of a collective voice that speaks our truth to power, ministers meaningfully to those we are called to love and serve, and is a purposeful and strategic witness to God’s righteousness and justice.”

Support from UCC National Ministries

“We fully support the Central Atlantic Conference and the other plaintiffs in this work,” said the Rev. Karen Georgia Thompson, UCC General Minister and President. “The UCC has been consistent in its support and advocacy for the rights of immigrants and refugees and will continue to do so in this moment and the days ahead.”

Some have reached out to the National Ministries wondering why the UCC as a denomination is not among those named in the lawsuit. Thompson said that General Synod’s participation was discussed with the organizers of the lawsuit, and the ultimate decision was made to look toward providing the General Synod’s perspective in an amicus brief at the appropriate time in the litigation.

“We analyzed the General Synod’s potential participation in detail,” said UCC General Counsel Heather Kimmel. “Given our religious structure and the relief sought, the General Synod’s participation as a plaintiff was not the correct entry point for this advocacy.”

Kimmel further explained that, based on UCC governing documents, the UCC Board has authority to act on behalf of the General Synod, and so when signing onto an amicus brief or as a denominational representative, it is in the name of the General Synod of the United Church of Christ.

Defending human dignity

This lawsuit is one of three filed by faith organizations against federal agencies in recent weeks as a response to policy changes by the Trump Administration.

A coalition of Quaker meetings filed a similar lawsuit to prevent immigration agents from performing arrests and searches in houses of worship on Jan. 27.

And on Feb. 10, Church World Service — of which the UCC is a covenant member — joined with other refugee-serving agencies and individuals to sue the Trump Administration for suspending refugee resettlement and stopping federal funding for refugee services organizations.

“It is regrettable that we can see a relationship among all those lawsuits in terms of the human person,” said the Rev. Carlos Malave who leads the Latino Christian National Network, another plaintiff in the newest suit. “We can see how all these actions by the current administration attend against the human dignity of all people.”

“One of the tasks we have as a church is to really stay focused, not get overwhelmed, and stay on course,” Palmer said. “I think part of this whole barrage is to make people throw up their hands and say, ‘We can’t do anything.’ But we can stay straight on course and say, ‘We can — individually and collectively.’”

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