By Marcia Sowles
On Oct. 20, the Mennonite Church USA and the Church of the Brethren and their 25 co-plaintiffs won an important ruling in their “sensitive location” lawsuit, Mennonite Church USA v. U.S Department of Homeland Security. The lawsuit challenges the Department of Homeland Security’s rescission of its three-decade-old policy restricting immigration enforcement actions at or near houses of worship.
The lawsuit alleges that the government’s actions substantially burden the plaintiffs’ religious exercise, in violation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) and the First Amendment. It also argues that the agency’s failure to provide an adequate justification for such a significant policy shift violates the Administrative Procedure Act.
The three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled, 2-1, that a lower court judge erred in finding that the plaintiffs lacked standing to file their lawsuit. In her Opinion for the Court, Circuit Judge Florence Y. Pan wrote, “Plaintiffs’ members likely face imminent harm from increased enforcement at their houses of worship; that harm is traceable to the new enforcement policy; and the relief requested will likely redress their injury, at least in part.”
She also pointed out that the “plaintiffs have direct evidence that the government intends to increase immigration enforcement at sensitive locations—that is the whole point of the Recission Memo.”
The decision does not reach the merits of the plaintiffs’ claims nor does it provide immediate relief. The case will return to the lower court, where plaintiffs can again ask for a preliminary injunction, a temporary court order that would protect their congregations while the lawsuit continues.
Plaintiffs are represented in the lawsuit by Georgetown University Law Center’s Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection.
If your congregation or ministry has observed ICE or CBP (border patrol) activity at or in the near vicinity of your place of worship, please immediately contact Marcia Sowles at msowles@brethren.org and copy the district executive of your Church of the Brethren district, so that we can document with the court any encroachment into our sacred spaces.
— Marcia Sowles is an attorney and serves as a Policy and Governmental Affairs associate for the Church of the Brethren Office of Peacebuilding and Policy.
#MissionAndMinistryBoard #StrategicPlan #RacialJustice #LoveOurNeighbors #Discipleship #NewTestamentGiving
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Find more Church of the Brethren news:
- D.C. Circuit Court holds that plaintiffs have standing in ‘sensitive locations’ lawsuit
- El Tribunal de Circuito de DC dictaminó que los demandantes tienen legitimación activa en la demanda relativa a “lugares sensibles”.
- Tribinal Awondisman DC a deklare ke demandè yo gen dwa pou aji nan pwosè “kote sansib” yo.
- On the street: An immigration story
- En la calle: Una historia de inmigración