Churches have long served as sanctuary to those fleeing the long arm of the government. No more. A new directive from President Donald Trump's administration will allow federal agents to enter places of worship to seek and capture undocumented migrants.
The move ends decade-old rules that kept immigration agents from "carrying out immigration enforcement in sensitive locations," said The Associated Press. Authorities can now make arrests at churches (as well as schools) as part of the Trump administration's efforts to carry out mass deportations. Migrants will "no longer be able to hide in America's schools and churches to avoid arrest," the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.
Some religious leaders are pushing back. Faith communities have an "executive order from God, not from politicians," said Guillermo Torres of Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice to the Los Angeles Times. The concept of sanctuary is "deeply rooted in Christian tradition," said the Times. But other pastors expect to be more accommodating. Undocumented migrants are the "equivalent of anybody else who's breaking the law," said Rev. Lorenzo Sewell of 180 Church in Detroit.
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The Catholic Church in America has "long made caring for immigrants a hallmark of its ministry," said William K. Reilly at The New York Times. And Catholic clergy along the U.S.-Mexico border are "gearing up to help parishioners facing deportation." That's why the church "must be fully engaged and vigorously oppose" Trump's plans for mass deportations. So far, though, church officials have been "muted on the national stage." It is time they became more vocal, Reilly adds. The new administration's deportations are a matter of "profound moral significance that should engage us all."
The Trump administration has a "Catholic problem," said Christopher Hale, formerly of Catholics for Harris, at Newsweek. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has "rightly condemned the new policy as a violation of sacred spaces" that would erode trust between churches and the communities they serve. Republicans and conservative Catholics have aligned on issues "like abortion and religious liberty," but the administration's decision to target "sacred spaces" for arrests suggests a "stark contrast with Catholic values."
What next?
The administration's order isn't popular. About 57% of respondents in a recent poll said they are "strongly or somewhat" opposed to making deportation arrests in churches, said The Hill. Just 20% said they supported the new rule.
At least one religious group is taking the matter to court. A group of Quaker congregations has sued the Trump administration, said Bloomberg. The threat of immigration arrests "deters congregants, especially immigrants, from attending services," the churches said in their complaint. And that, they added, violates the First Amendment and federal law by "burdening the rights of congregants to exercise their religion without a compelling reason."
