Eugene, ORE. — Today, community organizations and faith leaders across the country held a press conference announcing their lawsuit filed yesterday against the Trump administration after it terminated decades’ old protections for spaces such as community organizations, schools, hospitals, and places of worship from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The plaintiffs, represented by Innovation Law Lab and Justice Action Center, are challenging the Trump administration’s revocation of decades-old protection that has ensured ICE cannot access what are known as sensitive locations.This is the only current federal lawsuit against this administration seeking to include protections for community-based organizations.
On January 20, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security abruptly and arbitrarily opened sensitive locations to immigration enforcement at the unfettered discretion of immigration agents, making it easier to detain individuals in former safe spaces and making it harder for immigrants of all status and their loved ones to access crucial services. This has wreaked havoc on our plaintiffs and countless other community serving organizations seeking to carry out their missions; the families, individuals, and children who visit these locations; and community members who bear witness to often traumatizing and chilling ICE activity.
“Immigrants and farmworkers put food on our tables and make our nation strong and should not have to live in fear when they take their kids to school, go to church on Sunday and visit the doctor,” said Reyna Lopez, President of plaintiff, Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste (PCUN), Oregon’s Farmworker Union.
“I said it once and I will say it again: Never in my life has the change of a president had such an immediate effect in my life as this recent one,” said Rev. Scott Santarosa of plaintiff Our Lady of Guadalupe. “This has left our parishioners and migrant guests in our shelter literally trembling in great fear, questioning whether the place they have considered their second home—our church—is safe for them.”
“Our faith-based social service agencies have seen a marked decrease in the number of community members willing to seek critical programs, including immigration legal services,” said Michael Pappas, Executive Director of plaintiff San Francisco Interfaith Council. “We need the courts to take a stand and help us protect the sanctity of our collective spaces as well as our freedom to continue to support our community without fear.”
“We are a congregation of justice-seekers and peacemakers and have been a sanctuary for Oregonians for decades,” said Rev. Dr. W, J, Mark Knutson Senior Pastor of Augustana’s Lutheran Church, Portland. “The Trump administration’s revocation of the sensitive locations memo is a direct attack on our fundamental freedoms and rights as faith communities.”
“The recent ‘Enforcement in Protected Areas Policy’ is directly at odds with our core beliefs that all individuals should be able to safely access essential services, including healthcare and education,” said Rev. Becca Putman of plaintiff, Westminster Presbyterian Church. “We firmly believe people should be able to worship without fear and to access their programs without fear.”
“Students should be learning in schools, parishioners and community members should be worshiping in places of worship, and doctors should be healing in health care facilities,” said Tess Hellgren, Director of Legal Advocacy of co-counsel, Innovation Law Lab. “These locations are not for disappearances of individuals or for deportations. These are simple truths and this lawsuit stands for our values and the sanctity of our laws and spaces.”
“Everyone should have the right to access essential care and services without the looming fear of ICE agents abducting them and tearing apart their family. The Trump administration’s attacks on adults and children in places of worship, schools, and hospitals, is not only morally corrupt, but it’s also blatantly unlawful,” said Esther Sung, Legal Director of co-counsel, Justice Action Center. “We are proud to stand alongside our plaintiffs to protect the right to safe spaces for all of our neighbors, regardless of their immigration status.”
The complaint is available online at Innovation Law Lab and Justice Action Center.
Recording of the press conference available here.
About Innovation Law Lab: Innovation Law Lab, based in Portland, Oregon with projects around the United States, is a nonprofit organization that leverages law, technology and organizing to fight for immigrant and refugee justice. For more information, visit www.innovationlawlab.org and follow us on social media: @innovationlawlab on Facebook and Instagram.
About Justice Action Center: Justice Action Center (JAC) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting for greater justice for immigrant communities by combining litigation and storytelling. JAC is committed to bringing additional litigation resources to address unmet needs, empower clients, and change the corrosive narrative around immigrants in the U.S. Learn more at justiceactioncenter.org and follow us on Bluesky, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
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