Judge orders ICE raids to stop at some places of worship

U.S. District Court Judge Theodore D. Chuang in Maryland has paused President Donald Trump's administration from continuing any raids in a handful of religious institutions as part of the mass deportation plan.

Politico legal affairs reporter Josh Gerstein posted the ruling on X, showing that the judge allowed for a preliminary injunction until the matter is heard in court. It involves several Quaker churches, a Baptist Fellowship and a Sikh Temple in Sacramento, all of which had joined together to challenge the order in court.

Trump announced his plan in Dec. 2024 to stop any sanctuaries for any immigrants. The government was not allowed to make arrests of undocumented immigrants who happened to be in the hospital, worshipping or marrying in a church, synagogue, or mosque, or studying — or even teaching — in a school classroom.

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This lawsuit was brought in January from primarily Quakers in the Religious Society of Friends.

Earlier this month, a different group of 27 institutions 27 institutions, from several Christian sects to Jewish groups, took the administration to court, saying that the raids are violating their religious freedom.

Their lawsuit, which has not yet been ruled on, describes "11 denominational and interdenominational associations, all rooted in the Jewish and Christian faiths," and how their faith traditions embrace immigrants and asylum seekers.