Nearly 400 years after members of the Religious Society of Friends, also known as Quakers, arrived in America in pursuit of religious freedom, a new immigration policy threatens the ability of the religious group to freely practice their beliefs, according to a lawsuit.

Five Quaker groups — including the first formal association of Quakers in the world — filed a lawsuit Jan. 27 against the Department of Homeland Security over a new Trump administration policy rescinding a previous guideline in which immigration officials could not enforce actions in “sensitive” locations, such as schools and places of worship.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement made 956 arrests Jan. 26, according to a Facebook post by the agency.

“A week ago today, President Trump swore an oath to defend the Constitution and yet today religious institutions that have existed since the 1600s in our country are having to go to court to challenge what is a violation of every individual’s Constitutional right to worship,” Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward, the organization representing the Quaker groups, said in a Jan. 27 news release.

Several religious leaders have spoken out against the new policy, and while other nonprofit organizations — some stemming from religious groups — have filed similar lawsuits on account of the new policy, this is the first lawsuit filed directly from a faith-based organization.

A DHS spokesperson told McClatchy News in a Jan. 27 email the agency does not comment on pending litigation.

The lawsuit

The 40-page lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, argues that the new immigration order violates fundamentals of the Quaker religious experience, including communal worship.

“For (Quaker congregations) communal worship is not just important, it is the very process of worship itself,” prosecutors said.

In Quaker worship, people sit together in silence and wait to hear from God. Then, anyone attending worship is encouraged to stand and share that message, according to the complaint.

“Quakers believe that those with varied life experiences — including immigrants — can provide unique messages from God. Being able to receive those messages is fundamental to the Quaker religious exercise,” prosecutors said.

The new policy has instilled fear in migrant-friendly congregations and led to the cancellation of some worship services, according to the complaint.

“Our faith requires us to do justice, oppose war and violence, love our neighbors (with no exceptions) and to make decisions with everyone in the room,” the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, one of the Quaker groups represented in the lawsuit, said in the release. “ ... The DHS policy impedes all of these things and invades our sacred space and ability to worship freely.”

The Quaker groups want any policy permitting immigration-enforcement at or near houses of worship to be declared unconstitutional, according to the lawsuit.

Quakers and social justice

Quakers have a long history of involvement in human rights and social justice causes.

They have been involved in advocating for the protection of Native Americans’ rights, were early abolitionists and had many leaders involved in the women’s suffrage movement, according to History.com.

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