01/28/2025
“BREAKING: A deeply religious group of Quaker congregations hits Donald Trump's DHS with a brilliant lawsuit after his administration changed a policy that banned ICE agents from raiding places of worship.
This is what happens when fake MAGA christianity encounters the real deal...
The revoked policy in question bars ICE agents from carrying out operations without supervisor approval in "sensitive locations" which includes places of worship, playgrounds, schools, and hospitals.
The lawsuit filed in a federal district court in Maryland states that: "The very threat of that [immigration] enforcement deters congregants from attending services, especially members of immigrant communities." According to the plaintiffs, attending service is a crucial aspect of the constitutional guarantee to "religious liberty."
"A week ago today, President Trump swore an oath to defend the Constitution and yet today religious institutions that have existed since the 1600s in our country are having to go to court to challenge what is a violation of every individual’s constitutional right to worship and associate freely," said Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, the group providing lawyers for the Quaker groups.
"The troubling nature of the policy goes beyond just houses of worship with sanctuary programs — it is that ICE could enter religious and sacred spaces whenever it wants," Perryman added.
In an email to NBC News, Noah Merrill, secretary of the New England Yearly Meeting of Friends wrote: "Quaker meetings for worship seek to be a sanctuary and a refuge for all, and this new and invasive practice tangibly erodes that possibility by creating unnecessary anxiety, confusion, and chilling of our members’ and neighbors’ willingness to share with us in the worship which sustains our lives.
"This undermines our communities and, we believe, violates our religious freedom," he added.
"The very threat of government officials wearing ICE-emblazoned jackets outside of our religious service will have a significant impact on our communities and ability to practice our faith," the Baltimore Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, another one of the five Quaker groups involved, stated.”