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Federal Judge Sides With Trump Admin on Immigration Enforcement in Houses of Worship
NewsMax ^ | Friday, 11 April 2025 02:29 PM EDT

Posted on 04/12/2025 1:59:09 PM PDT by SoConPubbie

A federal judge on Friday sided with the Trump administration in allowing immigration agents to conduct enforcement operations at houses of worship despite a lawsuit filed by religious groups over the new policy.

U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich in Washington refused to grant a preliminary injunction to the plaintiffs, more than two dozen Christian and Jewish groups representing millions of Americans.

She found that only a handful of immigration enforcement actions have been conducted in or around churches or other houses of worship and that the evidence doesn't show "that places of worship are being singled out as special targets."

The groups argued the policy violated the right to practice their religion. Since President Donald Trump took office in January, attendance has declined significantly, with some areas showing double-digit percentage drops, they said.

The judge, though, found that the groups had not shown their drops were definitively linked to the church policy specifically, as opposed to broader increased actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement or other agencies.

"That evidence suggests that congregants are staying home to avoid encountering ICE in their own neighborhoods, not because churches or synagogues are locations of elevated risk," wrote Friedrich, who was appointed by the Republican president during his first term.

That means that simply reversing the policy on houses of worship wouldn't necessarily mean immigrants would return to church, she found.

On Jan. 20, his first day back in office, Trump's administration rescinded a Department of Homeland Security policy limiting where migrant arrests could happen. Its new policy said field agents using "common sense" and "discretion" can conduct immigration enforcement operations at houses of worship without a supervisor's approval.

Plaintiffs' attorneys claimed the new Homeland Security directive departs from the government's 30-year-old policy against staging immigration enforcement operations in "protected areas" or "sensitive locations."

(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: aliens; church; deportation; illegalaliens; trump

1 posted on 04/12/2025 1:59:09 PM PDT by SoConPubbie
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To: SoConPubbie

Can they go into witches’ covens and satanic houses where the Democrats and illegals are hiding? /S

Or just legitimate places of worship.


2 posted on 04/12/2025 2:04:48 PM PDT by frank ballenger (There's a battle outside and it's raging. It'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls. )
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To: SoConPubbie
Good plan.
"Religion is the last refuge of a scoundrel" — Samuel Johnson


3 posted on 04/12/2025 2:07:42 PM PDT by Governor Dinwiddie ( O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is gracious, and His mercy endureth forever. — Psalm 106)
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To: SoConPubbie

They watched too many vampire movies.


4 posted on 04/12/2025 2:16:09 PM PDT by HYPOCRACY (Long live The Great MAGA Kangz!)
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To: SoConPubbie

Sanctuary was only for innocent peole


5 posted on 04/12/2025 2:23:03 PM PDT by Tennessee Nana
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To: SoConPubbie

Just a thought

A guy goes into a mosque and shoots up the place killing several people

Are they saying no LEO should go in and stop him and arrest him ???

Just asking


6 posted on 04/12/2025 2:27:15 PM PDT by Tennessee Nana
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To: SoConPubbie

“Since President Donald Trump took office in January, attendance has declined significantly, with some areas showing double-digit percentage drops, they said.”

My experience is the opposite. St Joseph, Marietta GA Spanish Mass es have greatly increased in attendance.
They are a mix of illegals, anchor babies, legals and natural citizens. Often families are mixed in immigration status. The husband has a different status from the wife.


7 posted on 04/12/2025 2:55:31 PM PDT by spintreebob (ki .h )
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To: SoConPubbie

This is huge.

A lot of these churches were being used for laundering people in and out of different places.

It is an understatement that illegal aliens were a large scale profitable business.


8 posted on 04/12/2025 3:35:29 PM PDT by ProgressingAmerica (We cannot vote our way out of these problems. The only way out is to activist our way out.)
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To: ProgressingAmerica

Agreed—big win.

Next—going after the non-profit status of churches enabling and supporting illegal immigration and illegal aliens.


9 posted on 04/12/2025 3:37:45 PM PDT by cgbg (It was not us. It was them--all along.)
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To: SoConPubbie

Grabbing someone out of a church does not infringe on the right to worship except for that person, and at that moment. And that would be true regardless of whether they were being seized.


10 posted on 04/12/2025 3:53:33 PM PDT by Bruce Campbells Chin ( )
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To: SoConPubbie

Biden’s terrorist groups he let in hit hardest.


11 posted on 04/13/2025 6:38:25 AM PDT by Vaduz
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To: cgbg
Does anyone recall ‘Rat presidents having to get judicial approval for every decision they made?

Just asking.

12 posted on 04/13/2025 7:06:52 AM PDT by daler
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