A federal judge on Friday ruled in favor of Metropolitan Community Churches, two Baptist denominations and several regional synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, issuing an injunction prohibiting immigration enforcement in and around houses of worship.
The injunction came in a lawsuit filed last July by MCC, the American Baptist Churches USA, the Alliance of Baptists and the Lutheran synods, and was issued by U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV in the federal district of Massachusetts. Judge Saylor was appointed to the bench by President George W. Bush.
The denominations filed the suit to challenge a Trump administration policy that went against decades of protocol to allow immigration enforcement actions at churches and other places of worship.
“We are ecstatic that Judge Saylor has seen fit to protect MCC faith communities from frivolous immigration enforcement actions,” said the Rev. Elder Cecilia Eggleston, moderator of MCC worldwide, via an MCC press release. “Our greater goal would be a complete reversal of this policy, which infringes on the religious freedom so many in Washington claim to cherish.”
The Rev. Elder Rich Hendricks, an attorney and member of MCC’s Council of Elders, added, “The battle to secure all houses of worship from frivolous incursions in the name of ‘law enforcement’ is surely not over. We will not consider this an end to the war for religious freedom, but we celebrate this victory in the ongoing struggle to maintain true freedom.”
— Tammye Nash
