Minnesota Churches Locked in Legal Battles Over ICE Surveillance and Protests

Legal Battles Over Church Surveillance and Worship Protests

Court cases involving Twin Cities churches highlight an acrimonious debate over sacred spaces and the right to worship. In one federal court case, University Baptist Church in Minneapolis joined congregations nationwide to ask for the government to be reprimarded after agents spied on protest-related activity on its property, according to the Associated Press. In a separate case reported by the Associated Press, more than 30 protesters asked for their charges to be dismissed after disrupting a worship service in a St. Paul church where one of the pastors also serves as a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official. Court documents emerging in mid-August in a separate case involving 15 people charged by federal prosecutors with impeding the immigration crackdown revealed that federal agents conducted an undercover surveillance operation targeting progressive groups and unions leading protests, according to the Associated Press. Among those charged was an organizer in a martial arts group who trained protesters to physically prevent arrests, with some meetings held in the gym of University Baptist Church. Homeland Security agents conducted surveillance operations there four times, including once with an undercover agent inside. University Baptist Church belongs to American Baptist Churches USA and the Alliance of Baptists. Those groups won an injunction in February against most immigration enforcement at their member churches nationwide, and they have asked the same federal judge to rule that Homeland Security violated that order, instruct agents about it, and disclose if other houses of worship were targeted in surveillance operations, according to the Associated Press.

Lasting Repercussions for Minnesota Congregations

Even congregations uninvolved in active court cases report lingering effects from the weekslong surge in immigration operations last winter, which saw daily confrontations between protesters and federal law enforcement alongside the killing of two protesters that sparked a global outcry, according to the Associated Press. While immigration agents are no longer visibly active on the residential block housing Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, signs posted in January declaring Everyone is welcome here! Except I.C.E. remain on the doors, according to the Rev. Ingrid Rasmussen. I don’t foresee a time when they will come down. We want our building to remain a sanctuary for many people, Rasmussen said, as reported by the Associated Press. During the winter operations, her church provided whistles that protesters across the city used to alert neighbors about law enforcement presence.

Broader Context of Immigration Enforcement and Faith Groups

For decades, congregations have provided for immigrants and refugees through faith communities, food distribution at the U.S.–Mexico border, and advocacy in Washington. As part of President Donald Trump’s sweeping crackdown on illegal immigration, the administration gave agents more leeway to make arrests at houses of worship, prompting dozens of religious groups to sue and establishing an openly adversarial relationship between many faith leaders and federal authorities, according to the Associated Press. This friction has persisted through surges last fall and winter across the country, resulting in faith leaders getting arrested during anti-enforcement protests and suing to make pastoral visits to detained migrants. Elizabeth Reiner Platt, director of the Law, Rights and Religion Project at Union Theological Seminary, told the Associated Press that there’s been a pretty dramatic increase in lawsuits filed related to people of faith’s support for migrants. Platt added that faith groups have achieved several promising wins, demonstrating that the administration’s aggressive enforcement approach remains unpopular with many religious people.