Judge Blocks Trump Admin From Making Immigration Arrests in Some Churches

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, in a file photograph. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement via Getty Images

A federal judge on Feb. 24 issued an order blocking the Trump administration from conducting immigration raids at certain places of worship.

U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang ruled in favor of several groups who filed a lawsuit in a Maryland federal court challenging President Donald Trump’s decision to drop a memo released under the Biden administration that blocked immigration arrests at houses of worship and other locations.

The preliminary injunction from the Maryland-based judge only applies to the plaintiffs, who include a group of Quakers as well as a Georgia-based network of Baptist churches and a Sikh temple in California.

His order noted that Trump’s policy lacked “any meaningful limitations or safeguards on such activity,” referring to immigration raids, and “likely does not satisfy these constitutional and statutory requirements as to Plaintiffs.”

“A return to the status quo is therefore warranted until the exact contours of what is necessary to avoid unlawful infringement on religious exercise are determined later in this case,” Chuang wrote.

The judge ordered the administration to return to a 2021 memorandum that was issued by Biden-era Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas that blocked the department, which oversees immigration enforcement agencies, from making arrests and conducting raids at places of worship, medical facilities, and schools.

“Where plaintiffs’ communal religious exercise will be significantly and adversely affected by reductions in attendance resulting from immigration enforcement actions pursuant to the 2025 policy, armed law enforcement officers operating in or at places of worship pursuant to the 2025 policy will adversely affect the ability of Quakers and Sikhs to follow their religious beliefs or worship freely,” Chuang wrote in his 59-page opinion.

A day after Trump was sworn into office, DHS issued a statement saying it had suspended Biden administration-related directives that barred enforcement action near sensitive locations.

Five Quaker congregations from Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia filed suit against DHS and its secretary, Kristi Noem, on Jan. 27, less than a week after the new policy was announced.

“This action empowers the brave men and women in CBP (Customs and Border Protection) and ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to enforce our immigration laws and catch criminal aliens—including murderers and rapists—who have illegally come into our country,“ then-acting DHS Secretary Benjamine Huffman said in the statement. ”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.”

A DHS spokesperson recently confirmed to The Epoch Times that it is reassigning acting ICE Director Caleb Vitello, who will no longer be serving in an administrative role.

Vitello most recently was the assistant director for firearms and tactical programs before being tapped as the acting director. DHS has not named a replacement for Vitello.

Weeks ago, Tom Homan, the White House border czar tasked with carrying out Trump’s immigration agenda across the federal government, said arrests inside the United States are about three times higher than they were that time last year under then-President Joe Biden. But he said it still wasn’t enough.

“I’m not satisfied,” Homan told CNN earlier this month. “We got to get more.”

From Jan. 23 to Jan. 31, officials shared data on social media platform X daily but then stopped publishing information. The agency’s data dashboard has more information, but those quarterly figures are only current as of September 2024.

The administration has repeatedly stated that its first priority is to deport illegal immigrants who have committed crimes in the United States or pose a threat to public safety.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.