A law firm representing religious groups is suing the Trump administration over claims that federal agencies are blocking faith leaders from ministering to immigrants detained in Minnesota.
The suit, filed by Saul Ewing and Groundwork Legal, asserts that ICE has violated the First Amendment and Religious Freedom Restoration Act by barring ministers from providing spiritual care to individuals detained at Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building at Fort Snelling. That facility has housed many of the thousands of immigrants arrested since the surge of federal agents to Minnesota.
Filed in U.S. District Court for Minnesota, the firms name as plaintiffs the Minneapolis Area Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Minnesota Conference of the United Church of Christ and the Rev. Christopher Collins, a Jesuit priest. The groups are seeking to allow all faith leaders to enter the building and provide pastoral care to detainees.
The lawsuit is the latest attempt by local attorneys to fight for access into the Whipple Building through court intervention. Late January, immigration rights attorneys sued the Trump administration on accusations that federal agencies were blocking lawyers from accessing their clients inside Whipple.
After a judge’s order, the attorneys toured the facility and described crowded and dirty conditions. The federal judge, Nancy Brasel, recently extended her orders protecting the access through March 12.
The complaint describes several instances of federal agents blocking clergy from entering the building or turning them away since early December, the start of Operation Metro Surge. In one example, a reverend went to the Whipple Building on Feb. 18 to bear ashes for Ash Wednesday, a holy day in the Christian faith, but was denied over “safety” and “security” reasons.
In response to the lawsuit, the Department of Homeland said religious services in field offices like the Whipple Federal Building is not standard operating procedure, as people are “continuously brought in, processed, and transferred out.”
“Religious organizations are more than welcome to provide services to detainees in ICE detention facilities,” a Homeland Security spokesperson said in prepared remarks.
