Federal Court Blocks Trump Administration’s Immigration Raids at Houses of Worship

A federal court has delivered a decisive victory for religious freedom.

In February, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts issued a preliminary injunction, blocking the Trump administration’s policy that gave U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) broad authority to conduct raids, arrests and surveillance at and around houses of worship.

This is the second federal court order blocking ICE from raiding houses of worship—a powerful signal that the courts recognize what faith communities have long known, which is that sacred spaces are not staging grounds for fear and intimidation.

What Happened and Why It Matters

For more than 30 years, the federal government upheld what was known as the “sensitive locations” policy, a protective framework that restricted immigration enforcement at houses of worship, schools, hospitals, and other places of refuge. The policy recognized a fundamental truth: when people fear arrest simply for attending church, mosque, temple, or meeting house, religious freedom is no longer free.

Earlier this year, the Trump administration rescinded those protections, opening the door for ICE to conduct enforcement operations at the very places where faith communities gather to pray, serve, and find community. The effect was immediate and chilling. Congregations across the country—including immigrant families, asylum seekers, and undocumented neighbors—began staying home from worship out of fear.

A coalition of faith communities refused to accept that reality.

Plaintiffs in this lawsuit include the New England Synod, Greater Milwaukee Synod, Southwest California Synod, Southwestern Texas Synod, Sierra Pacific Synod, and San Francisco Friends Meeting of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), as well as American Baptist Churches USA, the Alliance of Baptists, and Metropolitan Community Churches—faith traditions spanning denominations, geography and theology, united by a common conviction.

Together with legal representation from Democracy Forward, the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, and Gilbert LLP, these communities took their case to federal court and won.

“As people of faith, our sacred spaces must remain places of safety, refuge, and worship. For decades, our congregations have opened their doors to all, regardless of immigration status, and carried out ministries grounded in dignity, compassion, and community. Today’s ruling affirms a simple but profound principle: religious freedom belongs to everyone. We are grateful the court recognized that truth and protected the rights of our communities,” the coalition of faith communities said in a statement.

Our Own Clergy Leaders Helped Secure This Victory

This ruling is personal for our community.

The Sierra Pacific Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America—one of the named plaintiffs in this lawsuit—represents congregations right here in the Central Valley, including the churches of two Faith in the Valley clergy leaders:

• Pastor Nelson, of Iglesia Luterana Santa Maria Peregrina
• Pastor Bill, of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church

Both pastors, alongside faith communities across the country, worked in partnership with Democracy Forward to bring this case forward. Their courage and commitment helped make this ruling possible. This is what faith-based organizing looks like in practice—clergy leaders putting their names and their congregations on the line to protect the most vulnerable among us.

What This Means for Our Community

This ruling matters for every person who believes that the church, synagogue, mosque, or meeting house should be a place of welcome, not surveillance.

But the fight isn’t over.

This is a preliminary injunction, which means the case continues. We need sustained public attention, community organizing, and support for the legal teams pressing forward.

Connect with organizations like Democracy Forward and the Washington Lawyers’ Committee if you or your congregation needs support, and stay engaged. Moments like this one are won and lost by whether people show up.

The bigger issue is this: The Trump administration’s reversal of the sensitive locations policy was never simply about immigration enforcement. As Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, put it, it is “about eroding the core rights of people and the foundational values of our democracy.”

Houses of worship have always been places where everyone is welcome. When the government turns them into places of fear, it betrays that promise.

Faith in the Valley stands firmly with our sibling congregations in this fight. The God we serve does not check immigration papers at the door. Neither should the state.

You can read the full order in New England Synod, ELCA et al. v. Department of Homeland Security et al. online.