Boston, MA — A growing coalition of faith groups today filed an amended complaint in the lawsuit against the US Department of Homeland Security and DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin over the agency’s policy removing longstanding protections for houses of worship and other sensitive locations. The group, representing over 7,000 religious congregations, argues that the 2025 policy violates the First Amendment, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and the Administrative Procedure Act.
The amended complaint paints a stark picture in the wake of the removal of protections restricting immigration enforcement at places of worship: “As a result, people across the country, regardless of immigration status, reasonably fear attending houses of worship. Churches have seen both attendance and financial giving plummet. Congregations have gone underground to protect their parishioners, eschewing in-person meetings central to their faith. Baptisms that previously would have been occasions for communal worship and celebration are now being held in private.”
“Congregations, whose faith requires them to welcome all with open hearts, have been forced to lock their doors and train staff on how to handle potential immigration raids,” said Madeleine Gates, associate counsel at the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs. “There is no justification for the government to put people of faith in these impossible situations. Decades of history show that immigration enforcement can be accomplished without raiding churches.”
The lawsuit was filed by the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, Democracy Forward, and Gilbert LLP on behalf of: the New England, Greater Milwaukee, Southwest California, Southwestern Texas, Sierra Pacific, Metropolitan New York, Northwest Washington, Minneapolis Area, Delaware-Maryland, Metro D.C., Southeastern, Metropolitan Chicago, Pacifica, and Upstate New York Synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; San Francisco Friends Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends; Pacific Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends; North Pacific Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends; American Baptist Churches USA; Alliance of Baptists; D.C. Baptist Convention; Metropolitan Community Churches; and Southern New England Conference, United Church of Christ.
The case is New England Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, et al., v. Department of Homeland Security, et al. (Civil Case No. 4:25-cv-40102-FDS) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts Central Division.
Read the amended complaint here.