A JUDGE in the United States has granted an injunction to allow clergy to minister to migrants at a detention centre in Minnesota, the state at the centre of the Trump administration’s most severe crackdown on immigrants.
District Judge Jerry Blackwell ruled that the plaintiffs in the case — the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the United Church of Christ, and some individual faith leaders — had shown that the restrictions on the religious freedom of clergy to minister constituted “irreparable harm”. They may now make visits in person to detainees at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis.
Several clergy had been turned away on Ash Wednesday when they sought to visit the centre, named after Minnesota’s first Episcopalian bishop and advocate for human rights. The lawsuit, supported by Episcopalian and Roman Catholic bishops and Jewish leaders in the state, said that the Whipple building “now stands in stark contrast to its namesake’s legacy”.
The judge gave both sides four days to come up with a plan for access which took security concerns into account.
The Revd Kelly Gallagher, associate minister of the UCC Minnesota Conference, said in an interview with the Religion News Service: “We’re overjoyed as people of faith that the court recognizes the right of people to pastoral care, especially in crisis moments such as being detained.”
The Trump administration argued in court that the immigration crackdown in Minnesota, Operation Metro Surge, had ended in February, and that numbers of detentions had fallen, leading to the end of visitor restrictions at the Henry Whipple building.
More than 3000 people, including children, are estimated to have been arrested over the crackdown period of almost three months. A total of 3000 immigration officers patrolled the streets of the state at the height of the raids. Two US citizens involved in peaceful protests were shot by agents. A third person died while being detained. About 400 immigration agents are still believed to remain in the state.
Among those arrested in a raid was five-year-old Liam Ramos, who was taken as he returned from school. The image of Liam, wearing a bunny hat and backpack, was shown around the world. His family have now heard that their claim for asylum has been rejected and that they are under an order for deportation to Ecuador.
The Trump administration has had some legal endorsement of its crackdown in the face of court challenges. These include the lifiting of an injunction that prevented the use of tear gas in immigration raids. The US Court of Appeals in Minneapolis suspended an earlier legal ruling that banned immigration agents from using tear gas and other aggressive tactics against protesters. Lawyers for the government argued that the ban prevented officers’ protecting themselves and the public.
