DAVENPORT, IOWA (February 16, 2026) — A federal judge on Friday ruled in favor of Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC) and other denominations with an injunction prohibiting immigration enforcement in and around houses of worship.
In July 2025, MCC joined with other religious traditions in a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security, seeking to overturn a Trump Administration policy that reversed decades of protocols in allowing immigration enforcement actions to take place at churches and other houses of worship.
US District Judge F Dennis Saylor IV, an appointee of President George W Bush in the Federal District of Massachusetts, on Friday protected churches in the American Baptist Churches USA, Alliance of Baptists, Metropolitan Community Churches, and several regional synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America from immigration enforcement actions.
“We are ecstatic that Judge Saylor has seen fit to protect MCC faith communities from frivolous immigration enforcement actions,” said Rev Elder Cecilia Eggleston, moderator of MCC worldwide. “Our greater goal would be a complete reversal of this policy, which infringes on the religious freedom so many in Washington claim to cherish.”
“The battle to secure all houses of worship from frivolous incursions in the name of ‘law enforcement’ is surely not over,” said Rev Elder Rich Hendricks, an attorney and member of MCC’s Council of Elders. “We will not consider this an end to the war for religious freedom, but we celebrate this victory in the ongoing struggle to maintain true freedom.”
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