{"id":2599661,"date":"2026-05-06T19:26:01","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T23:26:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fourth-circuit-grills-doj-on-bid-to-relax-ices-sensitive-locations-restrictions\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T19:28:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T23:28:16","slug":"fourth-circuit-grills-doj-on-bid-to-relax-ices-sensitive-locations-restrictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fourth-circuit-grills-doj-on-bid-to-relax-ices-sensitive-locations-restrictions\/","title":{"rendered":"Fourth Circuit grills DOJ on bid to relax ICE&#8217;s &#8216;sensitive locations&#8217; restrictions"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffourth-circuit-grills-doj-on-bid-to-relax-ices-sensitive-locations-restrictions%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2599661&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A three-judge panel of the U.S.Court of appeals for the 4th Circuit questioned DOJ lawyer Michael Talent as the Trump governance seeks to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/march-for-life-charts-course-for-biden-administration\/\" title=\"March for Life Charts Course for Biden Administration\">roll back restrictions<\/a> on when immigration officers can operate at \u201csensitive locations,\u201d including churches. Religious groups challenging the policy argue it violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act by substantially burdening their faith, pointing to reduced church attendance after the policy was announced.<\/p>\n<p>during the hearing, some judges focused on the attendance drop. Talent countered that immigration enforcement is still possible under the prior Biden-era homeland security rules and that the policy change mainly alters the internal approval level required-not a complete ban on enforcement at worship sites. He also argued the groups have not shown enforcement is imminent and that their claims amount to speculative or indirect harms, which would not be enough to make the policy unlawful.<\/p>\n<p>The panel did not indicate when it will rule, and the court\u2019s decision is still pending.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p>A federal <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/appeals-courts\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"1537\">appeals court<\/a> grilled the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/department-of-justice\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"438\">Department of Justice<\/a> on Wednesday over the Trump administration\u2019s bid to allow <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/immigration\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"8775\">immigration<\/a> officers to enter places of worship in certain circumstances, expressing concern over the effects on religious liberty that the policy may have.<\/p>\n<p>A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit grilled DOJ lawyer Michael Talent over the administration\u2019s bid to reverse a lower court\u2019s ruling barring the implementation of a policy giving immigration officials more freedom to conduct operations in \u201csensitive locations,\u201d such as churches and other places of worship.<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4556968\/rhode-island-illegal-immigrant-case-controversy-ill-timed-press-release\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Illegal immigrant case spirals into controversy after ill-timed press release<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/immigration\/4556424\/trump-mockup-ice-rebrand-nice\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Trump posts mockup of ICE rebranded to \u2018NICE\u2019 after supporter\u2019s suggestion<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/immigration\/4555697\/mass-deportations-coming-tom-homan-ice-surge-sanctuary-cities\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>\u2018Mass deportations are coming\u2019: Homan previews ICE surge to sanctuary cities<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>The coalition of religious groups suing the administration claims the policy violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which bars the government from substantially burdening a person\u2019s right to exercise religion, pointing to drops in attendance at religious services after the new policy was announced.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Several judges questioned Talent about the drop in attendance, which the group cited as evidence of a violation of its religious rights. Talent responded to the various questions by pointing out that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fewer-than-30k-illegals-were-deported-in-2022\/\" title=\"In 2022, fewer than 30k illegals were deported\">immigration enforcement operations<\/a> were still possible under the Biden administration\u2019s Homeland Security policy and that the new policy only changed the \u201capproval level\u201d within DHS needed to conduct operations at sensitive locations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe congregants seem to believe \u2013 and we point this out \u2013 that the prior policy created the safe haven that prevented enforcement at churches,\u201d Talent said.<\/p>\n<p>Talent also asserted that the policy change was not as significant as the groups suing the administration are making it out to be, stressing that the level of approval within DHS that officers needed to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-trumps-deportation-agenda-is-being-stalled-in-courts\/\" title=\"How Trump&#039;s deportation agenda is being stalled in ...s\">conduct immigration operations<\/a> at churches changed, rather than a reversal of a previous full ban on the practice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt doesn\u2019t create this kind of safe harbor, safe haven for churches,\u201d Talent said about the previous policy under then-DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. \u201cEnforcement is possible under the Mayorkas memorandum, which shows that, again, the concerns about immigration enforcement at these houses of worship is driven more, probably, by the overall enforcement posture of this administration.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He also argued that the groups have failed to show that immigration enforcement is imminent, arguing the groups have instead provided speculative concerns about enforcement, a point the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" ><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/appeals-court-upholds-texas-ban-on-abortion-procedure\/\" title=\"... ... Upholds Texas Ban On Abortion Procedure\">appeals court panel<\/a> met<\/a> with deep skepticism. Talent argued that \u201cincidental effects of internal government action, even if it makes worship harder\u201d would not meet the bar of making a policy unlawful.<\/p>\n<p>Bradley Girard, the lawyer arguing on behalf of the religious groups, stressed the drop in church attendance as the key to their argument for why the amended policy is unlawful.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe think that the reduction in attendance, and again everything that flows from that, is more than sufficient,\u201d Girard told the court. \u201cI think that\u2019s probably the cleanest way, and courts for years have recognized the harms that come to houses of worship when there\u2019s a reduction in attendance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The appeals court panel did not say when it would issue a ruling on the Justice Department\u2019s appeal.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4555127\/appeals-court-spars-doj-supreme-court-passport-ruling\/\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4555127\/appeals-court-spars-doj-supreme-court-passport-ruling\/\">APPEALS COURT SPARS WITH DOJ OVER SUPREME COURT\u2019S TRANSGENDER PASSPORT RULING<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Trump administration\u2019s bid to ease restrictions on Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations, along with other immigration officers, at \u201csensitive locations\u201d has been met with lawsuits across the country, with mixed results.<\/p>\n<p>In a federal court in Minnesota, a judge denied an effort by various local schools to bar immigration enforcement activity at and around public schools in the state in a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/democracyforward.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Fridley-v-Noem-D-Minn-order-denying-stay.pdf\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/democracyforward.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Fridley-v-Noem-D-Minn-order-denying-stay.pdf\">ruling<\/a> Wednesday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A federal appeals court questioned DOJ over Trump\u2019s plan to let immigration officers enter worship sites, raising religious liberty concerns<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2638,"featured_media":2599664,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AP26083506869561_c4c96c.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[7076,73155,8364,49347,40607],"class_list":["post-2599661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-doj","tag-fourth-circuit","tag-ice","tag-immigration-enforcement","tag-judicial-review"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AP26083506869561_c4c96c.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2599661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2638"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2599661"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2599661\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2599666,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2599661\/revisions\/2599666"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2599664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2599661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2599661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2599661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}