WASHINGTON 

Over two dozen religious groups filed suit against President Donald Trump's administration on Tuesday over his decision to allow immigration agents to enter houses of worship to make arrests.

The suit, filed in US District Court for the District of Columbia, is being brought by 27 Christian and Jewish faith groups from across the nation, including the Mennonite Church, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the Episcopal Church, the Friends General Conference, Reconstructing Judaism, Union for Reform Judaism, and the Unitarian Universalist Association.

The groups contend that Trump's decision to strip houses of worship of immigration protections – part of his wider effort to crack down on both legal and illegal forms of immigration – is a violation of their core religious beliefs, and said immigration raids that have already targeted houses of worship have instilled fear in their congregations and driven down attendance at religious services.

"They bring this suit unified on a fundamental belief: Every human being, regardless of birthplace, is a child of God worthy of dignity, care, and love. Welcoming the stranger, or immigrant, is thus a central precept of their faith practices," the suit says.

"An immigration enforcement action during worship services, ministry work, or other congregational activities would be devastating to their religious practice. It would shatter the consecrated space of sanctuary, thwart communal worship, and undermine the social service outreach that is central to religious expression and spiritual practice for Plaintiffs’ congregations and members," it added.

The Department of Homeland Security, which the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency falls under, previously had in place a longstanding "sensitive locations" policy that generally prevented immigration enforcement actions in places that provided services that are vital to well-being. That had included houses of worship and schools before Trump revoked the protections.

That decision "is already substantially burdening the religious exercise of Plaintiffs’ congregations and members," the new lawsuit says.

It is seeking "a preliminary and permanent injunction prohibiting DHS and its subcomponents, their officials, agents, employees, assigns, and all persons acting in concert with them, from carrying out immigration enforcement activities" within houses of worship or during worship ceremonies "absent exigent circumstances or the existence and planned execution of a judicial warrant."