Mennonite Church USA v. DHS - District Court (Sensitive Locations)

[ARCHIVED - September 2025]

A coalition of denominational and interdenominational religious entities filed suit to challenge DHS’s rescission of the so-called “sensitive locations” memo, which had codified long-standing government policy to refrain from conducting immigration enforcement actions in “sensitive locations,” including places of worship.

On January 20, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a memo that superseded and rescinded government policy, most recently reaffirmed in a 2021 DHS memo, not to conduct immigration enforcement in “sensitive locations.” The 2025 memo said that it was not necessary for DHS “to create bright line rules regarding where our immigration laws are permitted to be enforced.” Rather, noting that immigration officers “frequently apply enforcement discretion,” the memo instructed law enforcement officers to “continue to use that discretion along with a healthy dose of common sense.” The memo was publicized on January 21 in a Fox News report and a DHS press statement. It was subsequently leaked on January 23.

The Plaintiffs allege that the rescission memo allows immigration enforcement actions at places of worship, which burdens not only the religious exercise of the Plaintiffs’ congregations and members, who are called to welcome and serve all people, but also the Plaintiffs’ freedom of association under the First Amendment, which allows people to gather together for religious worship, to exchange religious ideas and experiences, and to engage in social service ministries. The Plaintiffs also allege that in issuing the memo, the Defendants failed to engage in reasoned decisionmaking, as required by the Administrative Procedure Act, to explain why they chose to eliminate guidelines that have restricted immigration enforcement in sensitive locations for over three decades. The Plaintiffs seek a declaration that the rescission memo is unlawful and violates the First Amendment, as well as a court order blocking Defendants from effectuating the rescission memo. The Plaintiffs have moved for a preliminary injunction; briefing on the motion will conclude on March 24, 2025, and the judge will hear oral argument in the first week of April.

On April 11, the Court denied Plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction. Specifically, the Court found that Plaintiffs had not provided sufficient evidence of an imminent threat of enforcement, as the 2025 memo did not direct law enforcement to target churches or synagogues and the record did not show that such locations were being singled out. Additionally, although Plaintiffs included evidence showing church attendance decline, the Court found it not possible to dissociate the effects of the 2025 memo from other recent immigration enforcement activities and policies. The case was stayed until May 12, 2025, when the parties jointly proposed a schedule for Plaintiffs to renew their motion for a preliminary injunction. On May 30, Plaintiffs also appealed the PI denial to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals.