A large number of religious institutions have joined together to file a lawsuit against Donald Trump's Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.
The new suit, filed on Tuesday, has 27 institutions, from several Christian sects to Jewish groups, arguing that the raids are violating their religious freedom.
"They bring this suit unified on a fundamental belief: Every human being, regardless of birthplace, is a child of God worthy of dignity, care, and love," the filing says. "Welcoming the stranger, or immigrant, is thus a central precept of their faith practices."
ALSO READ: A second reign of terror: Inside Trump’s blueprint for home raids
The lawsuit describes "11 denominational and interdenominational associations, all rooted in the Jewish and Christian faiths," and how their faith traditions embrace immigrants and asylum seekers.
According to the filing, the Torah cites 36 times the tenet: “The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens; you shall love them as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Leviticus 19:34).
The Christian traditions cite the Gospels in which Jesus Christ "echoes this command" to self-identify with the "stranger."
“For I was hungry, and you gave me food, I was thirsty, and you gave me drink, I was a stranger, and you welcomed me” (Matthew 25:35), the lawsuit quotes.
"Plaintiffs’ religious scripture, teaching, and traditions offer clear, repeated, and irrefutable unanimity on their obligation to embrace, serve, and defend the refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants in their midst without regard to documentation or legal status," says the lawsuit.
The case mentions Trump's executive order, which removed the "sensitive locations policy" which allowed churches to serve as "sanctuary."
"At least one of these enforcement actions occurred at a church in Georgia during worship service," the lawsuit stated.
In a Washington Post editorial, columnist Catherine Rampell wrote that a concern is that the raids will take place while congregants are mid-prayer.
"This might seem ironic, given that Trump has signed multiple executive orders purporting to 'reduce burdens on the free exercise of religion' and protect people of faith," Rampell wrote. "In reality, he and his allies have launched an aggressive assault on religious liberty — or at least, the liberty to practice a religion that isn’t precisely their own."