A federal district court in Maryland today issued a preliminary injunction that prevents the Trump Administration from enforcing immigration laws in Quaker, Cooperative Baptist, and Sikh houses of worship that were plaintiffs in the case.
The ruling is a setback for the Trump Administration and its effort to reverse a Biden-era policy not to enforce immigration law in sensitive areas, including schools, hospitals, and places of worship. At the same time, the ruling is a victory for the plaintiff houses of worship and their desire to keep immigration enforcement out.
The case, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, arose when Quaker, Cooperative Baptist, and Sikh congregations sued DHS for reversing the Biden-era policy and generally authorizing enforcement of immigration law in houses of worship. The plaintiffs argued that the new policy violated their expressive-association rights under the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
The district court ruled that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on the merits. As to expressive association, the court held that the plaintiffs demonstrated a significant burden on their rights (because immigration enforcement would deter attendance at worship), while the government provided no interest for the policy and failed to show how the policy was sufficiently tailored. As to RFRA, the court said that the plaintiffs demonstrated a substantial burden on their religious practices (again, because immigration enforcement would deter attendance), while the government articulated no compelling interest and failed to show how its policy was the least restrictive means of achieving such an interest.
The court preliminarily enjoined the government from enforcing its new policy, and ordered the government to continue enforcing the Biden-era policy. The court declined, however, to apply the injunction beyond the Quaker, Cooperative Baptist, and Sikh plaintiffs in this case.