Key points:
- A coalition of faith groups has grounds to sue to curb immigration enforcement activities at houses of worship, a federal appeals court ruled.
- The coalition of Jewish and Christian bodies includes three United Methodist conferences and a general agency.
- United Methodist churches already have experienced ICE agents targeting their ministries.
A U.S. federal appeals court ruled Oct. 20 that United Methodists and other faith groups can move forward with their lawsuit to stop a Trump administration policy that allows immigration enforcement within houses of worship.
A divided three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit found that the coalition of Christian and Jewish groups has grounds to sue over the enforcement change.
The faith groups have demonstrated under the new policy, “their members face a ‘credible threat’ of enforcement that will likely cause imminent, if not immediate, injury,” Judge Florence Pan wrote for the majority.
Judge Robert Wilkins joined the majority, and Judge Neomi Rao dissented.
The ruling in “Mennonite Church USA, et. al., vs. U.S. Department of Homeland Security,” revives the lawsuit after a lower court in April 2025 denied the organizations’ bid for early relief. The appellate court has reversed that denial of a preliminary injunction and sent the case back to the lower court.
At issue in the suit is the U.S. Department of Homeland Security guidelines that permit federal agents to carry out immigration raids in “sensitive locations,” such as schools, hospitals, synagogues and churches.
Homeland Security instated the new policy in January 2025, soon after President Trump’s second inauguration. The move put an end to the longstanding practice of restraint in such locations.
The faith groups’ suit, filed Feb. 11, 2025, seeks to prevent Immigration and Customs Enforcement from intruding on ministry without a judicial warrant or special circumstances. The suit contends that the new policy violates both the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the religious freedom protections in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The United Methodist Commission on Religion and Race as well as the denomination’s New York, North Georgia and Western North Carolina conferences are among the groups bringing the legal action.
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More United Methodist ministries wanted to join the case, but the constraints of the lawsuit limited the number of plaintiffs. Each United Methodist body is a separate legal entity under federal law.
United Methodist leaders, meeting at the Leadership Gathering in Calgary, Alberta, cheered the ruling while noting this is only one step in a long legal battle.
“It’s inherent in our Wesleyan DNA to fight for justice for those that are marginalized and those that are oppressed, and this is an accentuated case,” said Bishop Thomas Bickerton, who leads both the New York and New England conferences. “This was the right thing to do because there are people that are suffering great, great injustices.”
The United Methodist Church’s Social Principles, based on multiple passages on Scripture, have long affirmed “the dignity, worth, and rights of migrants, immigrants and refugees, including displaced and stateless people.” United Methodist congregations don’t check to see if people have the right documentation before welcoming them to worship.
Bickerton added that United Methodist churches in New York have a long history of receiving immigrants into their membership. After all, New York City historically has been where multiple waves of immigrant populations first came ashore in the U.S.
“They are our people, and we’re standing with them at all costs.”
A big source of contention in the case is whether the faith groups involved have shown that the new policy endangered their members and whether reinstating the previous sensitive-location policy would provide relief.
The appellate court’s ruling sided with the faith group’s arguments on both counts.
“Plaintiffs point to several specific examples of the government engaging in enforcement activity at or near their members’ houses of worship,” Pan wrote.
In fact, shortly before the appellate court held oral arguments in the case in February, ICE agents arrested a member of North Hills United Methodist Church Hispanic Mission in Los Angeles, while the church was distributing food. United Methodist Carlos Chavez, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, was deported shortly after — leaving behind his wife and children. He was not accused of any crime.
“The trauma that the church had to go through is incredible,” said California-Pacific Conference Bishop Dottie Escobedo-Frank, whose area includes Los Angeles.
“We’ve seen it happen in several churches that people won’t come to church if ICE is going to come in,” she said. “Why would they? And so, it affects our ability to gather as worshipping communities because people are afraid to go to church.”
Last year, armed ICE agents also staged an operation in the parking lot of a Charlotte, North Carolina, United Methodist church during preschool pickup.
Western North Carolina Conference Bishop Ken Carter, whose area includes Charlotte, said the conference’s cabinet and trustees decided to join the lawsuit precisely to ensure churches could be safe from such intimidation tactics.
“Sanctuaries are set-apart places that protect human dignity and the image of God,” Carter said. He added that sanctuaries are supposed to provide places “that value people, where they can worship God and trust God.”
The 27 plaintiffs also include the Christian denominations of the Mennonite Church USA, the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the Episcopal Church, the Friends General Conference (Quakers) and the Presbyterian Church (USA). The Unitarian Universalist Association is another plaintiff.
Also joining the suit are three Jewish branches — Union for Reform Judaism (the largest Jewish movement in the U.S.), Reconstructing Judaism and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.
They all share a common belief that God calls the faithful to welcome the stranger.
“Immigrants are our siblings, neighbors, pastors, and fellow members of the body of Christ,” said the Rev. Giovanni Arroyo, the top executive of the United Methodist Commission on Religion and Race.
“When fear keeps people from gathering for prayer, receiving pastoral care or participating in congregational life, the whole community suffers,” he said. “We remain committed to accompanying immigrant communities, confronting racism and xenophobia, and equipping congregations to put their faith into practice through solidarity, care and advocacy.”
Bishop Robin Dease, who leads the soon-to-unite North Georgia and South Georgia conferences, shared a similar sentiment.
“Somebody has to stand in the gap. Somebody has to speak out when injustice is taking place,” she said. “I’m excited about the ways that our churches are protecting immigrants.”
Hahn is assistant news editor for UM News. Contact her at (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umnews.org. To read more United Methodist news, subscribe to the free UM News Digest.
