A federal appeals court panel has ruled in favor of 27 ecumenical and interfaith partners in a lawsuit contesting the Trump administration’s removal of “sensitive locations” protections for houses of worship in immigration enforcement.
The three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit ruled, 2-1, that a lower court judge erred in finding that the faith-based plaintiffs lacked standing to file their lawsuit. The plaintiffs have argued that the Trump administration’s intensified immigration enforcement actions have driven some worshippers to stay home.
The lower court judge ruled in April 2025 that the plaintiffs had not sufficiently demonstrated an imminent threat. The Court of Appeals reversed that decision, sending the case back to the US District Court to rule on the merits of the plaintiff’s arguments.
