\n<\/p>\n
MINNEAPOLIS — <\/span>Court cases involving Twin Cities churches and immigration<\/a> enforcement highlight how the acrimonious debate continues to roil faith communities more than six months since the federal surge turned Minnesota<\/a> into a symbol of defiance<\/a> of the Trump administration\u2019s policies.<\/p>\n In one case, a Minneapolis Baptist church \u2014 alongside congregations nationwide \u2014 asked for the government to be reprimanded after spying on protest-related activity on its property. In another, more than three dozen protesters have asked for their charges to be dismissed after they disrupted a worship service<\/a> in a St. Paul church where one of the pastors was also a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official.<\/p>\n Even congregations uninvolved in the court cases say they\u2019re still feeling the repercussions of the weekslong surge in immigration operations last winter. Protesters confronted federal law enforcement<\/a> daily, and the killing of two protesters<\/a> sparked global outcry. <\/p>\n Immigration agents are no longer visibly active on the same residential block as Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Minneapolis. But its pastor says the signs that went up in January stating \u201cEveryone is welcome here! Except I.C.E.\u201d have stayed.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t foresee a time when they will come down. We want our building to remain a sanctuary for many people,\u201d said the Rev. Ingrid Rasmussen. Her church provided whistles, which protesters across the city used to alert neighbors about law enforcement presence. <\/p>\n For decades, congregations have been on the front lines of providing for immigrants and refugees, whether in their faith communities or with outreach ranging from food distribution at the U.S.-Mexico border<\/a> to advocacy in Washington<\/a>.<\/p>\n As part of its sweeping crackdown on illegal immigration, President Donald Trump’s current administration gave agents more leeway to make arrests at houses of worship<\/a>. <\/p>\n In response, dozens of religious groups sued<\/a>, heralding a more openly adversarial relationship between many faith leaders and federal authorities.<\/p>\n That has continued through surges last fall and winter in various parts of the country, with faith leaders arrested during anti-enforcement protests<\/a> and suing to make pastoral visits to detained migrants<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s been a pretty dramatic increase in lawsuits filed related to people of faith\u2019s support for migrants,\u201d said Elizabeth Reiner Platt, director of the Law, Rights and Religion Project at Union Theological Seminary.<\/p>\n Faith groups have achieved several \u201cpromising\u201d wins, she said, adding that ongoing litigation shows how unpopular the administration\u2019s aggressive enforcement approach is with many religious people.<\/p>\n Both Minnesota court cases center on the idea of protecting a sacred space and people\u2019s right to worship \u2014 in one case from government intrusion and in the other, from people protesting the immigration crackdown. <\/p>\n In mid-August, court documents emerged in a separate case involving 15 people charged by federal prosecutors with impeding the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. The documents revealed that federal agents had conducted an undercover surveillance operation<\/a>, which had targeted groups leading protests earlier this year.<\/p>\n Among those charged was an organizer in a martial arts group who the government says was training protesters to physically prevent arrests. Some of the group\u2019s meetings occurred in the gym of University Baptist Church in Minneapolis, and Homeland Security agents conducted surveillance operations there four times \u2014 including once with an undercover agent inside, according to court documents. <\/p>\n The church is a member of American Baptist Churches USA and the Alliance of Baptists, two of several groups that in February won an injunction against most immigration enforcement at their member churches nationwide.<\/p>\n The groups have asked the same federal judge to rule that Homeland Security violated that order, to instruct its agents about it, as well as to disclose if any other houses of worship were part of surveillance operations.<\/p>\n The government says in court documents that its operation didn\u2019t violate the injunction because it wasn\u2019t about immigration enforcement. Rather, they were investigating a suspect for training \u201cindividuals to commit acts of violence against federal officers and employees.\u201d<\/p>\n A hearing was held Sept. 4 and a ruling is pending. A spokesperson with the Department of Homeland Security said it doesn\u2019t comment \u201con the existence or status of specific ongoing investigations, nor on investigative methods.\u201d<\/p>\n University Baptist Church\u2019s interim pastor said the small congregation found the surveillance \u201cvery upsetting\u201d \u2014 but also motivation to double down on their advocacy.<\/p>\n \u201cWe see the message of Jesus as compelling us to be where people are most vulnerable,\u201d the Rev. Cody J. Sanders said.<\/p>\n For Kevin Friedl, an attorney with the Democracy Forward Foundation that\u2019s representing the faith groups, the case is ultimately about offering sanctuary.<\/p>\n \u201cFor many, religion \u2014 being able to join together with others at their church or other house of worship \u2014 is an important and critical source of solace and comfort, in hard times, which these are,\u201d he said. \u201cThis administration wants to deny them that.\u201d<\/p>\n The argument that churches are protected spaces and worshippers have rights against intrusion is also buttressing the case over the anti-immigration enforcement protest at Cities Church<\/a> in Minnesota\u2019s capital in January.<\/p>\n More than three dozen people \u2014 including former CNN journalist Don Lemon and prominent local activists \u2014 are facing federal civil rights charges<\/a> after entering the Southern Baptist church where one pastor was also a leader in the local ICE field office. <\/p>\n During Sunday worship, some walked up to the pulpit, others loudly chanted \u201cICE out\u201d and \u201cRenee Good,\u201d referring to the woman who was fatally shot<\/a> on Jan. 7 by an ICE officer in Minneapolis.<\/p>\n In August, a slew of motions to dismiss the cases were filed and will be heard in late October. Some contend the charges amounted to \u201cselective or vindictive prosecution,\u201d and cite the University Baptist Church surveillance. They argue that the \u201cadministration\u2019s claims that this prosecution is based on a desire to protect the right to practice religion is disproved by the extraordinary freedom it has granted ICE to violate the sanctity of churches,\u201d according to court documents.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re using these cases to try to get information on the whole resistance movement,\u201d said Jordan Kushner, an attorney representing several defendants.<\/p>\n An attorney representing Cities Church countered that the issue at play is \u201can invasion during worship.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNobody has the right to storm a church,\u201d Doug Wardlow said, adding that the protest \u2014 and smaller, outdoors ones that continue to occur during worship times \u2014 \u201ctraumatically impacted the life of the church.\u201d<\/p>\n Faith leaders across the Twin Cities say they\u2019re still dealing with fallout from the surge, whether it\u2019s lingering fear among migrants, tensions over government surveillance, or persistent financial assistance requests.<\/p>\n Many congregants wonder who else was under federal surveillance, said the Rev. Mariah Furness Tollgaard, senior pastor at Hamline Church in St. Paul. She was briefly detained at an anti-deportations protest at the Minneapolis airport in January.<\/p>\n Several Protestant congregations that were outspoken in their anti-immigration-enforcement stances have increased their security measures.<\/p>\n While many remain committed to their advocacy, it\u2019s taking a toll.<\/p>\n \u201cThe general vibe we get from leaders and congregations is just tired \u2014 there\u2019s weariness more than anything,\u201d said Nicholas Tangen of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America\u2019s Minneapolis Area Synod.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP\u2019s collaboration<\/a> with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n