Are immigration officers coming to a church near you?

On any given Sunday morning, pastor Ryan Dupree estimates, the congregation of First Baptist in Columbia, S.C., represents about 10 nations. The church is situated in a diverse refugee community, and Dupree, who serves as the international minister, says about 80% of local businesses are minority-owned.

Dupree said he feels confident that the churchgoers are legally in the United States, and First Baptist does not plan to develop a protocol in case Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents show up to make sure.

“Honestly, it hasn’t crossed our mind,” Dupree said. “We’re just out to reach people for Christ. That’s all we’re worried about right now.”

Still, some faith leaders across the country worry about ICE arrests on church grounds due to a change initiated by the Trump administration. Areas that were previously deemed sensitive such as schools and churches are now fair game for deportation arrests, and faith leaders are divided on what that means for their communities.

In 2011, the Department of Homeland Security issued a memo that restricted ICE personnel from conducting arrests, searches, surveillance, and other actions at gathering places like churches, hospitals, schools, and parade grounds unless there were exigent circumstances. The Biden administration expanded the guidance in 2021 to include courthouses and prevented ICE officers from making arrests “in or near protected areas.”

“The Biden administration generally tried to restrict any kind of enforcement of our immigration laws,” said Ira Melhman, media director with the Federation for American Immigration Reform. “They basically tied the hands of Immigration Customs Enforcement.”

On his first day in office, President Donald Trump declared a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border and followed through on his promises to initiate mass deportations. His administration removed restrictions on conducting immigration enforcement at sensitive places, entrusting enforcement officers to employ “a healthy dose of common sense,” according to an announcement on the ICE website. ICE has since conducted numerous raids, arresting more than 1,100 illegal migrants on Jan. 27 alone, compared to an average of about 275 arrests per day in January 2024.

Roughly 11 million illegal immigrants reside in the States, and Mehlman believes the Trump administration doesn’t have the resources to deport them all. But giving ICE additional authorization to go into previously restricted spaces might send a clear message to illegal immigrants.

“We’re not going into schools and hospitals as a matter of practice,” border czar Tom Homan told CNN on Jan. 27. “But if it’s a significant public safety threat or a significant homeland security threat, there’s no safe haven.”

Some churches have long considered themselves to be just that: a safe haven for migrants. In the 1980s, several churches began sheltering Central American migrants who had been refused asylum by the US government. Led by a group of Quakers and Southside Presbyterian Church in Tucson, Ariz., the sanctuary movement emerged. Berkeley, Calif., became the first sanctuary city in 1985. According to World Church Service, about 800 churches had declared themselves sanctuaries for illegal immigrants during Trump’s first administration.

Now that Trump has given ICE the green light to enter places of worship, many faith leaders have spoken out. Days after the guideline change announcement, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a statement condemning the revision. “All people have a right to fulfill their duty to God without fear,” they wrote.

The National Association of Evangelicals made a similar announcement, calling the withdrawal of the guidance “troubling.”

On Jan. 27, Quaker societies in five states sued the Department of Homeland Security, claiming a breach of First Amendment freedoms. “Allowing armed government agents wearing ICE-emblazoned jackets to park outside a religious service and monitor who enters or to interrupt the service and drag a congregant out during the middle of worship is anathema to Quaker religious exercise,” the plaintiffs argued.

In the lawsuit, the Quaker groups offered the example of Wilson Velásquez Cruz, who was arrested in Tucker, Ga., on Jan. 26. Cruz wore a GPS ankle monitor often given to migrants who are released into the country on parole pending immigration hearings. He walked out of the sanctuary of Fuente de Vida Church when the alarm on the monitor began to sound in the middle of the worship service. ICE officials were waiting for him outside the building.

So far, Cruz seems to be the only person with a publicly reported arrest in or near a church since Trump’s inauguration. It’s difficult to know for sure since ICE often publicizes the names of deportees but doesn’t always detail the precise location of where migrants were arrested. The department did not respond to WORLD’s requests for comment.

ICE may soon carry out more arrests in courthouses, which were considered sensitive areas during the Biden administration. During Trump’s first presidency, DHS gave ICE agents explicit permission to carry out arrests in courthouses. The Immigrant Defense Project noted that courthouse arrests jumped 1,200% between 2016 and 2017.

ICE is not expected to ramp up church arrests anytime soon. For one thing, enforcement officers can’t intrude on private spaces without a reason. “If the main sanctuary is open all day for anyone in the public to come into, then ICE could enter,” said Julia Gelatt, associate director at the Migration Policy Institute. “If the doors are generally locked, then ICE would need permission or a judicial warrant to gain access.”

Warrants aside, Gelatt said ICE leaders know that going into churches would garner negative publicity. “I think that ICE would be concerned about their public image, and going into the middle of a Sunday service and arresting somebody’s grandmother is not a good look,” said Gelatt. “It’s probably not the easiest way for them to carry out their job.”

More than anything, the policy change might encourage some migrants to think twice about seeking sanctuary in churches. And that might have been the intended outcome. In the news release about the guideline change, DHS stated that, “Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest.”

As a former police officer, Dupree of First Baptist in Columbia believes churches don’t have the authority to obstruct justice by harboring illegal migrants. But he doesn’t think ICE will make a habit of raiding churches, either.

“I don’t see them…barging into worship service, trying to start asking people for statuses and, you know, ‘can you prove you’re here legally?’ I just don’t see that because that’s not who we are as a nation,” said Dupree.