The Department of Homeland Security’s decision to conduct immigration raids in houses of worship violates the First Amendment, a group of Quaker congregations said in a new federal lawsuit challenging the practice.
DHS’s policy violates the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act by burdening the rights of congregants to exercise their religion without a compelling reason, according to the complaint filed Monday by the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends and four other Quaker groups.
For over 30 years the government had an official policy of not conducting immigration raids in “protected areas,” which included ...