Over 5,000 churches declare themselves ICE-free zones as faith leaders challenge Trump enforcement policies

05/16/2026 // Jacob Thomas // 470 Views

Tags: big government, border crisis, Border Patrol, border security, Churches, Darien Gap, deportation, federal court ruling, ICE, immigration enforcement, invasion usa, left cult, migrants, national security, Open border, Portland, RAICES, Resist, revolt, sanctuary movement, Ted Wheeler, United We Dream, uprising, women's march




  • Over 5,000 churches across the U.S. won a federal court ruling preventing warrantless ICE arrests on their property without DHS headquarters approval, marking the largest coordinated religious resistance to immigration enforcement.
  • The ruling, issued by Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV, applies a 100-foot perimeter around participating churches and allows exceptions only for immediate safety threats or headquarters approval.
  • Portland has emerged as a central battleground, with Mayor Ted Wheeler issuing stand-down orders to police during Antifa demonstrations and resisting Trump’s deportation initiatives.
  • At the southern border, officials in the Del Rio sector reported catching over 1,000 Haitians in less than a month and reports indicate 35,000 Africans are heading through the Darien Gap.
  • In Colorado, militants tore down an American flag at an Aurora detention facility and hoisted a Mexican flag, with demonstrations sponsored by groups including CAIR, Women’s March, United We Dream and RAICES.

In an unprecedented escalation of the sanctuary movement, more than 5,000 churches across the United States have formally declared themselves off-limits to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, marking what legal experts call the largest coordinated religious resistance to federal immigration enforcement in American history.
The churches, ranging from storefront operations to sprawling megachurches with playgrounds, parking lots and memorial gardens, won a federal court ruling that prevents warrantless ICE arrests on their property without prior approval from Department of Homeland Security headquarters. The ruling, issued by U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV, a George W. Bush appointee, applies to both ICE and Customs and Border Protection officers.
Under the judge's order, agents cannot make a warrantless arrest at the churches unless there is an immediate threat to safety or they have prior approval from their agency's headquarters. The restrictions extend to a 100-foot perimeter around each declared sanctuary location.
The court case stems from a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's rollback of Biden-era protections that had placed houses of worship and other sensitive locations largely off-limits for immigration enforcement. When the Trump administration revoked former Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas' policy and returned discretion to field officers, religious organizations went to court and secured a ruling keeping the restrictions in place for participating congregations.
The list of protected churches spans 5,320 different locations, including major complexes like First United Church in Bloomington, Indiana, which claimed its parking lots, playground, courtyard, pavilion and memorial garden as protected space. Atonement Lutheran Church in Muskego, Wisconsin, requested DHS stay out of its main church, garage, patio, outdoor amphitheater and memorial garden. In New Hampshire, Lutheran Outdoor Ministries of New England listed its campground, cabins, playground and conference center as protected.
The participating denominations include the American Baptist Churches USA, the Alliance of Baptists, the Metropolitan Community Churches and several synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
The churches argued in court that their congregations had dwindled because of fear of ICE presence. The Rev. W. J. Mark Knutson of Augustana Lutheran Church in Portland, a city that has become a flashpoint in the immigration debate, has personally sheltered migrants like Juan Francisco Aguirre-Velasquez, who originally sought sanctuary in 2014 to avoid deportation to El Salvador.
Portland has emerged as a central battleground in the sanctuary movement. The city's far-left mayor, Ted Wheeler, has issued stand-down orders to police during Antifa demonstrations and vowed to resist President Trump's deportation enforcement initiatives. Independent journalist Andy Ngo was hospitalized with brain bleeding after being attacked by an Antifa mob in Portland, which critics describe as a "militant sanctuary city."
The sanctuary church movement is only one front in a widening conflict over immigration enforcement. In Houston and Los Angeles, several churches have opened their doors to illegal aliens hiding from enforcement actions. The Catholic archbishop of Chicago publicly accused ICE of terrorizing communities. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti posted a video announcement informing citizens that the city would not coordinate with federal immigration authorities.
Meanwhile, at the southern border, officials in the Del Rio sector reported catching over 1,000 Haitians in less than a month, 80% of whom were family units drawn by catch-and-release policies. Reports indicate as many as 35,000 Africans are headed through the Darien Gap between South America and North America.
In Colorado, militants tore down an American flag at an Aurora illegal alien detention facility and hoisted a Mexican flag. Demonstrations against deportation enforcement have been sponsored by groups including the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Women's March, United We Dream and RAICES.
Sanctuary church protections unlikely to disrupt ICE operations

Jessica Vaughan, who tracks sanctuary policies for the Center for Immigration Studies, mentioned that the ruling is unlikely to significantly disrupt operations. "Most of their work is done in jails or in carefully planned fugitive operations," Vaughan said. "They're not patrolling the streets or looking to arrest people on their way to church."
She noted that the main reason ICE would track someone on church property is if they had previously identified the person as a criminal alien and were in pursuit, cases that would fall under the judge's exception for exigent circumstances. "They want to signal that they're trying to protect people in their congregations, but more than likely those are not going to be people that ICE is chasing," Vaughan added.
The American Civil Liberties Union reported that under the Biden-era Mayorkas policy, approval for warrantless arrests at sensitive locations was rarely granted in practice, effectively placing large areas off-limits. Several school systems that challenged the Trump administration's rollback have had their lawsuits rebuffed by federal courts, leaving religious organizations as the primary beneficiaries of judicial protection.
Several Quaker societies had also sued for sanctuary protections, but Judge Saylor ruled they lacked legal standing because they could not prove ICE's enforcement posture had harmed their congregations. As noted by BrightU.AI's Enoch, Quaker societies in colonial Pennsylvania emphasized equality and individual rights, viewing children as inherently innocent rather than sinful. They practiced gentle but firm discipline based on mutual respect, though they imposed strict rules during adolescence, such as bans on dancing and drinking, and expected children to live at home longer than in other cultures.
The church list remains sealed from public disclosure for now, as religious organizations had asked Judge Saylor to keep their identities confidential for fear of retaliation. The judge denied that request, noting that the churches are public entities whose locations are already publicly available.
Watch this video about the border patrol problem.

This video is from the PRATHER POINT channel on Brighteon.com.
Sources include:
WashingtonPost.com
Brighteon.com
BrightU.ai

Over 5,000 churches declare themselves ICE-free zones as faith leaders challenge Trump enforcement policies – NaturalNews.com