A federal judge in Maryland issued a temporary injunction on Monday, preventing U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents from making immigration arrests at certain houses of worship affiliated with several religious groups.
U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang ruled that the DHS’s recent policy change, which lifted restrictions on immigration enforcement near places of worship, could infringe on the plaintiffs’ rights to freely practice their religions. The plaintiffs include Quakers, Sikhs, and Cooperative Baptists.
Judge Chuang, appointed by former President Barack Obama, ordered that the DHS adhere to a 2021 policy that limits immigration enforcement at or near religious sites. This policy requires agents to avoid such arrests “to the fullest extent possible” and imposes strict limitations on when enforcement can occur.
“Immigration enforcement actions at plaintiffs’ places of worship under the 2025 policy would pressure them to alter their religious practices by preventing them from worshiping with a larger, more diverse congregation, thereby hindering their religious exercise,” Chuang wrote in his 59-page opinion.
However, the judge’s decision was limited in scope. While the injunction applies to the religious sites operated by the plaintiffs—such as Quaker meetinghouses in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and New York—it does not extend nationwide.
The religious groups are challenging a January 20 memorandum issued by Acting DHS Secretary Benjamine C. Huffman. The memo rescinded long-standing guidelines that had restricted immigration enforcement near “protected areas,” including houses of worship, schools, and hospitals. Huffman argued that officers should use “common sense” when considering enforcement actions at or near these locations, but he did not see the need for specific rules on where immigration laws could be enforced.
“Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest,” the DHS stated in a press release announcing the policy change.
A week later, eight religious groups filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Maryland, seeking a temporary injunction to block the new policy. They argued that the threat of arrest or harassment by federal agents has made some worshippers fearful of attending services, violating their right to religious freedom. The Quakers, who are known for their pacifist beliefs, also argued that the presence of armed law enforcement near their meetinghouses was contrary to their values.
“Allowing armed government agents to park outside a religious service or interrupt worship to arrest a congregant goes against our religious beliefs,” the groups argued.
In response, the DHS contended that the harm claimed by the religious groups was speculative and outweighed by the public interest in enforcing immigration laws.
Judge Chuang sided with the plaintiffs, citing the decline in attendance at the Sikh Temple of Sacramento, which reported that many of its congregants—undocumented or otherwise—had stopped attending services due to the new policy. “These reductions in attendance significantly affect the plaintiffs’ religious practices, as their beliefs require communal worship,” Chuang wrote.
Although the plaintiffs requested a nationwide injunction to protect all houses of worship, the judge determined that such an order was not warranted at this point in the case.
Other religious organizations are challenging the policy in a separate lawsuit currently pending in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.
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