Churches forced to go underground as members 'too fearful to attend' under Trump: lawsuit

A large coalition of religious organizations is suing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for what it describes as a policy that has intimidated their parishioners through the "threat of surveillance, interrogation, or arrest" at houses of worship.

The lawsuit filed by the faith groups argued that churches and other places of worship used to be considered off limits for immigration enforcement actions except in extreme circumstances. However, the complaint noted that all this changed at the start of the second Trump administration, when Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem drastically loosened restrictions on when and under what circumstances immigration enforcement agents could conduct operations at or near religious institutions.

The result of these changes, the organizations alleged, has been to create a persistent atmosphere of fear among parishioners.

"Churches have seen both attendance and financial giving plummet," the complaint stated. "Congregations have gone underground to protect their parishioners, eschewing in-person meetings central to their faith. Baptisms that previously would have been occasions for communal worship and celebration are now being held in private."

The complaint added that churches have even "quietly stopped advertising immigrant-focused ministries and have canceled programming that served immigrant populations who are now too fearful to attend."

Taken together, the groups alleged that the government's actions violate the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, as well as the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act that mandates the government use "the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest" that also burdens the free exercise of religion. The organizations closed the lawsuit by asking courts to declare the 2025 immigration policy to be "unconstitutional and otherwise unlawful."

The complaint, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts Central Division, includes multiple synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, including those in New England, the greater Milwaukee area, southwest California, and southwest Texas. Other plaintiffs include the San Francisco Friends Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, the Alliance of Baptists, and Metropolitan Community Churches.

Rev. Lisa Dunson, the president of the Alliance of Baptists' board of directors, argued in a prepared statement that the administration's immigration policies "desecrate sacred spaces, violate religious freedom, and spread fear among those seeking peace and refuge."

"These sanctuaries have long offered welcome, safety, and spiritual nourishment to all," Dunson added. "To invade them with the threat of state violence is a moral failure and a betrayal of constitutional and sacred values alike. Such acts send a chilling message, that no place is safe and that immigrants, refugees, and the marginalized can be targeted even in the house of God."

Bishop Paul Erickson of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Greater Milwaukee Synod decried the Immigration and Customs Enforcement's raids on churches as "an unprecedented assault on religious liberty" that is "preventing people of all faiths and citizenship statuses from gathering for prayer and receiving vital services."

Ryan Downer, the legal director for the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs (WLC), said his group was proud to serve as co-counsel for the plaintiffs given that core issues of religious liberty are at stake.

"This policy... threatens the sanctity of all houses of worship and the religious values of people of faith everywhere," he said. "WLC proudly stands with our clients to ensure that the Constitution's guarantee of religious freedom is upheld."