An Obama-appointed federal judge ruled Monday that deportation officers are not permitted to conduct enforcement operations in certain places of worship, potentially giving criminal illegal migrants safe haven from law enforcement.
Judge Theodore Chuang of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland blocked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from entering houses of worship belonging to Quakers and other religious organizations involved in a lawsuit against the Trump administration, according to court documents. The legal battle revolves around so-called “sensitive locations,” areas in which ICE agents are directed not to conduct deportation operations.
Chuang, who was appointed to the bench by former President Barack Obama in 2014, found that the Trump policy could violate the groups’ religious freedom and should be blocked while the court challenge continues on.
The fight around sensitive locations and what’s off limits for deportation officers dates back to an Obama-era directive issued nearly 15 years ago.
An ICE memo establishing “sensitive locations” was introduced in October 2011 by the Obama administration, which largely restricted ICE agents from entering schools, hospitals or churches. However, this list was expanded incredibly under the Biden administration to include broad areas of social services and public spaces, limiting the scope where ICE agents could catch criminal illegal migrants.
As part of its overhaul of the immigration enforcement system, the Trump administration in January issued a directive that rescinded the Biden-era restrictions on sensitive locations, giving ICE agents and other federal immigration officers carte blanche discretion to make apprehensions anywhere in the country.
“This action empowers the brave men and women in [Customs and Border Protection] and ICE to enforce our immigration laws and catch criminal aliens — including murders and rapists — who have illegally come into our country,” a DHS spokesperson said of the directive. “Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest.”
“The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense,” the spokesperson continued.
However, the move was not welcomed by some religious institutions. Numerous Quaker groups, the Georgia-based Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and a Sacramento Sikh temple filed a lawsuit earlier in February seeking to block the DHS policy change, according to court documents. The plaintiffs are being provided legal assistance by Democracy Forward, a liberal non-profit organization with a history of opposing Trump policies.
DHS requested the plaintiffs’ motion be denied, arguing to the court that their claims of injury are purely “speculative,” according to court documents.
“To be clear, enforcement activities near places of worship have been permitted for decades,” the Trump administration’s lawyers wrote. “The only thing that has changed is that pre-approval from a supervisory official is no longer mandatory.”
While lawyers representing the plaintiffs asked Chuang to block the Trump policy on a national basis, the preliminary injunction Monday from the Obama-appointed judge only applies to houses of worship associated with the plaintiffs, rendering the order rather limited in scope. Plaintiffs are ordered to supply DHS with a list of names and addresses of their places of worship.
This is not the first time the judge has ruled against the Trump administration in regard to immigration enforcement policy. Chuang in October 2017 blocked the Trump White House’s travel ban against eight countries with a history of terrorist activity within their communities.
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