President Trump’s policy allowing immigration officials to conduct arrests in places of worship is opening a rift in the religious community over how to balance complying with the government while following core tenets of caring for the vulnerable that are central to both Christianity and Judaism.

More than two dozen groups of various denominations and faiths have filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeking to block the Department of Homeland Security’s decision to lift a prohibition on arrests in “sensitive” areas, such as churches and schools, without approval from supervisors. 

The coalition comprises 27 different institutions of various, mostly liberal denominations, such as the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Episcopal Church, and the Unitarian Universalist Association. Several Jewish organizations, including some that identify as conservative but have come out against stricter immigration laws, also joined the lawsuit. No conservative Christian denominations have joined the legal action. 

The lawsuit names the Department of Homeland Security and the immigration enforcement agencies as the defendants. 

The religious groups note that for “over 30 years,” law enforcement has been “substantially restricted” in their ability to conduct immigration enforcement operations near places of worship without “prior written, high-level supervisory approval.”

The lawsuit shared a recent story of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents arresting an illegal immigrant at a church in Georgia, which reportedly left the congregation fearful.

“Plaintiffs’ congregations and members face an imminent risk of similar immigration enforcement actions at their places of worship. Consistent with their call to welcome and serve all people, many have undocumented congregants and many offer social service ministries — such as food and clothing pantries, English as a Second Language (‘ESL’) classes, legal assistance, and job training services — at their churches and synagogues that serve undocumented people,” the lawsuit said.

The plaintiffs contend that allowing immigration enforcement officials to arrest illegal immigrants at places of worship would be “devastating to their religious practice” and would “shatter the

consecrated space of sanctuary, thwart communal worship, and undermine the social service outreach that is central to religious expression and spiritual practice for Plaintiffs’ congregations.” 

They also said that the policy is “already substantially burdening the religious exercise” of their congregations and leading to decreased attendance.

Part of their legal basis for the lawsuit relies on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which states that the government “shall not substantially burden a person’s exercise of religion even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability.”

The presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, Rev. Sean Rowe, told the Associated Press, “We cannot worship freely if some of us are living in fear.”

“By joining this lawsuit, we’re seeking the ability to gather and fully practice our faith, to follow Jesus’ command to love our neighbors as ourselves,” he added.

The lawsuit comes after several Quaker groups filed a legal challenge in Maryland over the “sensitive locations” policy change. That lawsuit also argued that the “very threat” of immigration enforcement would deter congregants from attending religious services. 

The Quaker groups are receiving representation from the left-wing legal organization Democracy Forward. The group’s president, Skye Perryman, said of the Quakers’ lawsuit, “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.”

The Justice Department filed a memorandum in opposition to the Quakers’ lawsuit. It argued that the lawsuit did not have grounds for an injunction because it was not based on actual incidents of harm being caused by the policy. Additionally, the department argued that the plaintiffs in that case did not have a basis to seek a nationwide injunction on the policy. 

Separate from the lawsuit filed on Tuesday, Pope Francis issued a letter to American bishops stating that he has “followed closely the major crisis that is taking place…with the initiation of a program of mass deportations.

“The rightly formed conscience cannot fail to make a critical judgment and express its disagreement with any measure that tacitly or explicitly identifies the illegal status of some migrants with criminality,” Pope Francis said. 

He also said that “one must recognize the right of a nation to defend itself and keep communities safe from those who have committed violent or serious crimes in the country or prior to arrival.” However, he wrote that deportation “damages the dignity of many men and women, and of entire families, and places them in a state of particular vulnerability and defenselessness.”

While religious institutions with more left-wing doctrine are seeking to challenge Mr. Trump’s immigration policies, religious organizations that tend to be more conservative are less worried.

The founder of the conservative legal organization Liberty Counsel, Mat Staver, told the AP, “Places of worship are for worship and are not sanctuaries for illegal activity or for harboring people engaged in illegal activity.”

“Fugitives or criminals are not immune from the law merely because they enter a place of worship. This is not a matter of religious freedom. There is no right to openly violate the law and disobey law enforcement,” he said.

The lawsuits are setting up a potentially contentious relationship between faith groups and the White House on the issue of immigration. According to the director of the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University, George Barna, Mr. Trump won 56 percent of self-identified Christians in the 2024 election. 

However, differences of opinion over how Christians should fulfill their mission of caring for the vulnerable are setting up a new fault line. Some Republicans in Congress are looking to take on charities, especially those run by religious organizations, that help illegal immigrants skirt immigration laws by taking actions such as removing their tax-exempt status.