Faith leaders nationwide are pushing back against President Donald Trump's assertion that churches are no longer considered safe spaces for undocumented immigrants.

The Department of Homeland Security has rescinded expanded guidelines set by the Biden administration that thwarted arrests in so-called sensitive areas - including churches, schools, and medical facilities.

Rev. Norman Allen of First Parish in Portland said the change goes against long-standing tradition.

"The idea that you could go into a place of worship and create fear," said Allen, "it seems not in keeping with some core values that we have as Americans."

Allen said he hopes to share information with congregants about immigrants' rights to pass along to anyone who needs it.

A recent report from the Maine Center for Economic Policy reveals the roughly 5,000 undocumented immigrants in Maine contribute more than $15 million in state and local taxes.

Immigration officials in the current administration say Biden's decision to classify certain areas as off limits to enforcement agents helped "murderers and rapists" to avoid arrest.

But research shows undocumented immigrants are far less likely to commit crimes than U.S. citizens.

Allen said his parish has been involved in social justice efforts for 350 years, and will continue to care for its neighbors.

"The sense that churches, or hospitals, or schools, are hiding someone who is dangerous is simply false," said Allen. "The whole thing seems more about engendering fear than it does about any kind of practical purpose."

Allen said he has enormous admiration for Bishop Mariann Budde with the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, D.C.

He said she set a high bar for other clergy to follow when she asked President Trump to have mercy upon those who are scared - and Rev. Allen hopes to live up to it.

Some 15 community and faith-based organizations gathered again this week outside the Geo Group ICE detention facility in Aurora where longtime Denver resident and activist Jeanette Vizguerra is being held.

Protestors have gathered weekly after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Vizguerra during her work break at Target on March 17.

Nate Kassa, organizer, Party for Socialism and Liberation, was a safety marshal during the demonstration calling for her release.

"We're here today to demand freedom for Jeanette Vizguerra," he explained. "She's been imprisoned by the Trump administration for exercising her First Amendment right to free speech. And to speak out for the unjust detentions of people like her, and other immigrants across this country."

Vizguerra was recently named a 2025 recipient of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award for her "moral courage and willingness to act on convictions, even at great personal risk."

ICE officials have called Vizguerra a "convicted criminal alien" for entering and remaining in the U.S. without proper documentation, an act the Trump administration considers illegal. ICE also said she has received due process and that a judge has issued a final order for her deportation.

Eight in ten Americans support deporting immigrants who have been convicted of a violent crime, according to a new poll. But after the arrest of documented student activists by masked agents, and the deployment of active military personnel on U.S. soil, a majority of Americans say the Trump administration has gone too far.

Yoselin Corrales, organizer with the group Aurora Unidos, said it is important to stand up against what she sees as the criminalization of people who are politically active.

"We've seen this across our country with activists being arrested and persecuted by the police and by the FBI, and we will not stand for our voices being silenced," she contended.

President Donald Trump campaigned on the promise of mass deportations, and the budget reconciliation bill passed by Congress last week includes the largest investment in detention and deportation in U.S. history. The law earmarks $170 billion to fund Trump's immigration plans, including $45 billion to build new detention centers.


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The Trump administration has made it clear it will cut funding from schools continuing diversity, equity and inclusion programs and with record levels of Immigration and Customs Enforcement funding for detention and deportation in the new federal budget, more school districts are quietly rethinking their policies.

Barbara Marler, an independent education consultant and adviser with over 40 years of experience, is working with school districts to help them rephrase DEI-related language so it will not be flagged in automated searches. She explained her goal is to help shield their work and emphasizes the unprecedented nature of her efforts.

"ESL and bilingual, as a field, has always had some level of controversy," Marler acknowledged. "But this is at a whole 'nother level that I've never seen before."

The Trump administration has called DEI policies "dangerous and demeaning." Marler noted school district leaders tell her the current pressures they face feel insurmountable. So far, she has worked with two districts in Illinois on strategies and expects more will follow since the passage of the new federal budget bill last week.

Alejandra Vázquez Baur, a fellow at the Century Foundation and cofounder and director of the National Newcomer Network, said immigrant justice organizations operating in 'red' states have long been aware of the risks and have adapted their language to continue their work discreetly. She added now, even groups in blue states like Illinois, which once operated more openly, are facing increased pressure to avoid being targeted.

"It's scary, because many people who enter into this work do this because they themselves are immigrants, and/or they have undocumented family members or employees that they fear are at risk should the administration come after them, or should they lose funding and not be able to pay their employees," Vázquez Baur outlined.

The Supreme Court ruling in the 1982 case Plyler v. Doe determined all children in the U.S. have the right to a public education, regardless of immigration status. But Vázquez Baur stressed she is concerned about the chilling effect the current administration is having on such basic rights and freedoms. She warned jeopardizing the rights of immigrant students can lead to the erosion of rights for all.

"Many organizations have to back down as they consider all of their circumstances," Vázquez Baur added. "But for those places that have the ability to do so, those organizations and districts should dig deeper, because we cannot be silent in the face of these attacks."


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A Tennessee immigrant-led group and other advocates are suing the state over a new law they said unfairly targets people who offer shelter to undocumented immigrants.

Of the over 400,000 immigrants living in Tennessee, around 128,000 are undocumented.

Lisa Sherman Luna, executive director of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition and its political action committee TIRRC Votes, said her organization is seeking a preliminary injunction to block the "anti-harboring" law from taking effect July 1. She described the law, which would create a felony offense for human smuggling, as having no clear guidance on who it targets or how it will be enforced.

"We believe this law is unconstitutional and an overreach of the state government," Luna emphasized. "For us, SB 392 is ripping apart the very fabric of who we aspire to be as Tennesseans."

Luna noted the lawsuit is backed by the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection and the American Immigration Council. She added the law could criminalize basic acts of care like churches offering shelter or families living together.

Luna pointed out her organization recently met with Kilmar Abrego Garcia's wife and brother, along with national immigrant rights group CASA, to spotlight his case. She said he was denied fair legal protections, describing the impact it's had on his family.

"We see Kilmar's case as an example of the erosion of due process that is happening to individuals here in Tennessee," Luna outlined. "We had devastating ICE raids earlier in May that resulted in almost 200 people being kidnapped right from their cars in a coordinated operation between the Tennessee Highway Patrol and ICE."

Garcia remains in jail as lawyers debate whether the Justice Department can intervene to block his deportation, should he be released ahead of trial on human smuggling charges. Luna is calling on Tennesseans to stand with immigrant communities by volunteering, donating, or joining advocacy efforts. She added immigrants are at the forefront of building a stronger, multiracial democracy.


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