(RNS) — A federal judge has ordered the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to allow faith leaders inside a federal holding facility near Minneapolis after the clergy were denied access earlier this year while trying to provide religious support to immigrant detainees.
U.S. District Judge Jerry Blackwell issued a preliminary injunction in support of clergy who sued the federal government, requiring the government to grant faith leaders immediate access to the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building — which houses local Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices — while the case proceeds. The judge also instructed the government and the plaintiffs to attempt to work out shared protocol over the next week or so to address specific questions, such as whether faith leaders will be allowed to physically touch detainees.
Irina Vaynerman, cofounder of Groundwork Legal, one of the law firms representing the plaintiffs, told Religion News Service it was unusual for a judge to rule from the bench in such a case.
“It speaks to the merits of the claims here, and also the urgency,” she said, referring to what she called the “continuous irreparable harm that faith leaders and detainees are experiencing every day from not being able to provide or receive pastoral care.”
The lawsuit was f …