The Central Atlantic Conference of the United Church of Christ is among more than two dozen religious groups suing the Department of Homeland Security in response to a policy change that offers greater leeway for immigration enforcement in “sensitive locations,” including houses of worship.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit, who include a broad range of Christian and Jewish denominations and regional bodies, “have come together to file this suit because their scripture, teaching, and traditions offer irrefutable unanimity on their religious obligation to embrace and serve the refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants in their midst without regard to documentation or legal status,” said Kelsi Corkran, lead counsel for the plaintiffs from the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection.
The lawsuit, Mennonite Church USA et al. v. United States Department of Homeland Security et al., was filed on Feb. 11 in federal district court in Washington, D.C. It names ways that churches and synagogues have already begun to experience the impact of the recent reversal of the “sensitive locations” policy, which previously restricted Immigration and Customs Enforcement from conducting immigration raids, arrests, and other enforcement actions at houses of worship. Several have noted decreases in attendance at worship and in services to the community, with congregants conveying fear about potential immigration action.
At the Reformed Church of Highland Park in New Jersey — a congregation within the UCC Central Atlantic Conference (CAC) and dually affiliated with the Reformed Church in America — these policy changes impact their extensive ministry to immigrants and refugees. Congregants and leaders of Reformed Church of Highland Park and the state’s Governor Phil Murphy gathered in 2018 in support of three men taking sanctuary in the church during ICE raids in the church’s neighborhood.
Through the congregation’s work with Interfaith-RISE (Refugee and Immigrant Services and Empowerment), at least 3,000 people are in the building each week, with most being immigrants and refugees. An added consideration is that huge numbers of people who came legally are now on the verge of becoming ‘illegal’” with Trump administration plans to revoke the legal status of many migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.
Some have reached out to the National Ministries wondering why the UCC as a denomination is not among those named in the lawsuit. UCC General Minister and President, Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia Thompson, said that General Synod’s participation was discussed with the organizers of the lawsuit, and the ultimate decision was made to look toward providing the General Synod’s perspective in an amicus brief at the appropriate time in the litigation.
“We analyzed the General Synod’s potential participation in detail,” said UCC General Counsel Heather Kimmel. “Given our religious structure and the relief sought, the General Synod’s participation as a plaintiff was not the correct entry point for this advocacy.”
Kimmel further explained that, based on UCC governing documents, the UCC Board has authority to act on behalf of the General Synod, and so when signing onto an amicus brief or as a denominational representative, it is in the name of the General Synod of the United Church of Christ.
This lawsuit is one of three filed by faith organizations against federal agencies in recent weeks as a response to policy changes by the Trump Administration. A coalition of Quaker meetings filed a similar lawsuit to prevent immigration agents from performing arrests and searches in houses of worship on Jan. 27.
And on Feb. 10, Church World Service — of which the UCC is a covenant member — joined with other refugee-serving agencies and individuals to sue the Trump Administration for suspending refugee resettlement and stopping federal funding for refugee services organizations.