By Ritu Jha-
The Sikh Temple Sacramento is part of a lawsuit to stop federal agents from entering houses of worship.
The temple, along with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and New York Yearly Meeting (the main organizing body for Quakers), in all representing about 850,000 people of various denominations, sued the Department of Homeland Security in the District of Maryland, alleging that the “‘DHS’s new policy is unlawful” and is a “violation of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.”
The lawsuit came in response to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman rescinding the Biden Administration’s guidelines for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) enforcement actions that stop their law enforcement actions in or near “sensitive” areas. The order came on January 21.
According to the DHS statement released at the time, “This action empowers the brave men and women in CBP and ICE to enforce our immigration laws and catch criminal aliens — including murderers and rapists — who have illegally come into our country. Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest. The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense.”
The plaintiffs argued that for more than 30 years, the government’s policy did not permit immigration-enforcement operations in “protected areas,” also referred to as “sensitive locations.”
The new DHS policy “has sown fear within … migrant-friendly congregations,” and faith leaders have made clear that it has caused many immigrants to fear attending houses of worship, their release said.
Amar Singh Shergill, a board member at the Sikh Temple Sacramento, told indica, “The lawsuit protects the rights to worship at the gurdwara without the threat of warrantless searches and surveillance.”
Asked if federal agents had entered their gurdwara, Shergill said another one was, without naming it.
“There is concern but we remain chardi kala,” he said, using a Sikh term for eternal optimism.
Sources who did not want to be named said that ICE officials had tried to approach a gurdwara in the Bay Area, but the management had not let them in.
Shergill told indica that warrantless searches and surveillance at any religious institution affect us all.
“We are standing with our siblings in faith to end these threats anywhere people of faith seek to worship in freedom,” he said.
The Sikh Temple Sacramento in California representing approximately 30,000 people was inaugurated in 1983. Its grounds include a more than 20,000 square-foot prayer hall and 26,000 square-foot community kitchen.
The lawsuit stated that the new policy had an immediate chilling effect.
“We have already heard from members of our Sangat who are concerned that participation in Sikh religious life at the gurdwara may put them at risk because of the new policy,” Shergill said.
While some of the worried people may be undocumented, even people having legal immigration status were worried about coming to the temple.
“The fear has reduced attendance at our gurdwara and hinders our ability to carry out essential religious practices with the entire Sangat,” he said. “DHS’s new policy is also … renewing our collective concern, grounded in Sikh history, of government interference in our ability to freely practice our faith.
Since Trump has become president, three flights have carried more than 300 deported people back to India. The US says there are 18,000 such immigrants in all.
A 2022 Pew Research study found that, after Mexico, India had the second-largest unauthorized immigrant population in the U.S., estimated at 725,000. The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to inquiries about the lawsuit.
The matter also came up at the joint press conference President Trump held with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the White House on Feb 13. Modi has agreed to take back undocumented Indian immigrants illegally in the US.
Tejpaul Singh Baniwal, a historian and a member of the Gurdwara Sahib Stockton in California, told indica that the community should needs to come together on this matter.
“There is definitely a concern about ICE visiting… We are creating awareness about it. Some people will be impacted,” Baniwal said, adding that the groups are also in touch with city police and council, which are not supporting federal organizations in this matter.
