US judge halts Trump-era immigration raids at some religious sites
A federal judge ordered a stop to the Trump administration enforcing immigration policies at worship sites belonging to Quakers, Cooperative Baptists, and Sikhs.
The ruling follows a lawsuit filed by these religious groups, challenging Trump’s decision to reverse a Biden-era policy that had limited immigration arrests in certain sacred spaces, News.az reports citing foreign media.
Democracy Forward, in a press statement, said the Monday ruling came after it filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (1,400 churches serving 750,000 Baptists), Gurdwara Sahib West Sacramento (serving 30,000 Sikhs), and six Quaker Meetings.
US District Judge Theodore Chuang granted a limited temporary order requested by the religious groups challenging Trump’s policy, which allowed immigration enforcement at places of worship, as reported by CBS News.
The ruling protects only the worship sites used by Quakers, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, and the Sikh Temple, not all religious locations nationwide.
Judge Chuang, an Obama appointee, found that the Trump administration’s policy had discouraged attendance at worship services, affecting not just undocumented immigrants but also those with legal status who feared being wrongly targeted.
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