Judge blocks Trump immigration policy that allows arrests …

Greenbelt, md. (AP) – A federal judge blocked immigration agents to carry out application operations Quakers and a hand of other religious groups.

American district judge Theodore Chang found that Trump administration policy could violate religious freedom and should be blocked while a process that challenges it.

The preliminary communication of the Judge of Maryland applies only to the applicants, who also include a network of Baptist churches in Georgia and an Sikhs The California Temple.

Have sued after The Trump administration He threw the Department of Internal Security Policy, limiting where the migrants’ arrests could happen as president Donald Trump Seeks to do well for campaign promises to perform mass deportations.

The change of politics said that the field agents who use the “common sense” and “discretion” can perform operations to apply immigration to the worship houses, without the approval of the supervisor.

The applicants’ lawyers claim that the new DHS Directive is departing from the Government’s 30 -year policy against organizing the operations of applying immigration in “protected areas” or “sensitive locations”.

Five Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Virginia have DHS and his secretary, Kristi NoemOn January 27, less than a week after announcing the new policy.

Many immigrants are afraid to participate in religious services while the government applies the new rule, said lawyers for congregations in a registration in court.

“It is a fear that people are facing the whole county,” said the plaintiff’s lawyer, Bradley Girard, the judge during an hearing in February. “People do not manifest themselves, and the applicants suffer as a result.”

Government lawyers Claim the applicants It asks the court to interfere with the law enforcement activities based on simple speculation.

“The applicants did not provide any evidence to indicate that any of their religious organizations were targeted,” said the judge, lawyer of the Department of Justice, Kristina Wolfe, who was appointed by President Barack Obama.

Submitted more than two dozen Christian and Jewish groups representing millions of Americans a similar process but separately in Washington, Dc

The applicants in the case of Maryland are represented by the Democracy Forward Foundation, whose lawyers asked the judge to block the application of DHS of the national policy.

“The new DHS policy gives the authority to enter any house of worship throughout the country, regardless of its religious beliefs,” the lawyers wrote.

Government lawyers say that immigration application activities have been allowed in sensitive places, including decades. The only change in politics is that the approval of an supervisor is no longer mandatory, they added.

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This story was updated to reflect that a separate, but similar process was initiated in Washington, DC, not at Washington.