Here's the text of a Trib article about "what if ICE shows up at sacrament meeting?"

The Mormon Land newsletter is The Salt Lake Tribune’s weekly highlight reel of news in and about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Join us on Patreon and receive the full newsletter, podcast transcripts and access to all of our religion content.

Sanctuary is threatened
The new Trump administration has repealed previous guidelines that generally prevented law enforcement officers from entering churches and other “sensitive” areas in search of immigrants lacking permanent legal status.

So what will happen if Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents raid a Latter-day Saint congregation?

“I would be willing to bet that the vast majority of wards in the U.S., and every stake, has faithful members who are undocumented,” blogger Sam Brunson writes on By Common Consent. “This new policy indicates that they could be targeted for arrest as they worship at church.”

And how would the Loyola University Chicago law professor view such a police action?

“It stomps on their constitutionally protected, foundational religious liberty,” Brunson argues. “And it stomps on the church’s religious liberty in ministering to those who wish to attend.”

He urges the church hierarchy to provide lay leaders with the “legal and pastoral tools” to safeguard their congregants and religious freedom.

The global faith has been viewed as promoting immigrant-friendly policies and its devotion to religious liberty is well known.

“The church has made very clear it wants a humane policy of immigration enforcement that prioritizes keeping families together,” McKay Coppins, an award-winning Latter-day Saint journalist who covers national politics for The Atlantic, said in a “Mormon Land” podcast soon after Trump’s November election victory. “...Mass deportations could sweep away families that are the backbone of various branches and wards throughout the country, and trigger backlash from fellow members.”

Besides, adds Brunson, “if we truly believe that church attendance and taking the sacrament [Communion] are important (and we do!), anything that forcibly discourages or impedes people from attending church and taking the sacrament potentially has salvific consequences.”


Still, I can't trust any church authority, minor or major, would have a clue or plan beyond their own existing political beliefs. Having said that, the church has been putting undocumented young missionaries on missions for a number of years. They're actually driven by car to their missions so that they will not have to pass through any kind of airport, train, or bus gate. They also keep them all in the US.

If the church wants to talk about how it "prioritizes keeping families together," maybe they should sit this one out.

Book of Mormon stories that my teacher tells to me
All about the Lamanites who run from ICE
Will their bishop help them in their struggle to be free
In this land, if they live righteously?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/30/2025 10:22PM by bradley.

I think the LDS church will bow to POTUS when that happens. Nearly everyone else does and a large portion of its Caucasian membership is not excited to see more brown faces attending LDS church services.

https://www.deseret.com/faith/2025/01/30/church-statement-on-immigration-policy/

The most relevant part to this question:

“Church buildings and resources should not be used to help shield individuals from law enforcement.”

That's a typically weaselly policy.

There are two morally coherent positions: immigrants should be protected, or the "law" should be obeyed. Assuming the former stance would offend the conservative wing of the church membership while assuming the latter would offend both liberal Mormons and the people the church wants to convert and retain.

So what does SLC do? It threads the needle, supporting neither actual and potential converts nor the critics of immigration.

Once again the Lord leads the church by guiding its public relations department.

Well, the church was pretty okay with being tight with the Nazi Party in Germany leading up to and during WW2. Imagine if the government said, “Hey Mormons, give us lists of all your undocumented members and access to your meetings, or we’ll start taxing you like the corporation you are...” Mormon leadership has proven to be pretty pragmatic when it comes to money.

There might be a slight, slight difference somewhere between going searching for a known individual who is a suspect & 'going fishing' bc there's a rumor of undocumented persons attending, but I'm nowhere near certain on this...

In my church we honor & obey the laws that I like!

It is a matter of principle and priorities.

The principle is holding to what is right.

The priority is "will it cost us money"?

The will do whatever it takes to protect the money over protecting the people.

I didn't see anyone (including the D-News linked article) actually answer the OP question - what if ICE shows up a sacrament meeting?

Somebody should meet them at the door. Unless they have a warrant signed by a judge, they should be denied entry. If they try to argue the point, or if you are unsure of the authenticity of the signature, immediately call 911 and request a police presence to manage the situation.

As I understand it, they cannot legally enter unless they are invited to do so (i.e. a church official lets them in) or unless they have an executed (i.e. approved/signed by a judge) warrant.

Nothing illegal about that. It is part of the search and seizure protection in the Bill of Rights.


That's what I remember from when we had an asylum-seeking family in our church for 3 straight years. I'm not a lawyer, and that was almost 4 years ago now that the family was allowed out, so I may have the legal niceties messed up.

BTW, ICE after a year or so allowed to kids to be taken to school, and they never tried to enter the church, but they made it clear that the mother would be arrested and deported if they found her outside the church.

One child was US born, one foreign. I would guess ages 9 and 12 more or less by now. Maybe a little older than that. I don't really know if the mother is facing deportation now or has a green card. The two kids only have knowledge of living in the US. Both kids sound like they are from Ohio, which is to say they have no recognizable accent at all, other than standard middle America.

Not much would happen unless Bednar was there to smack them down for standing while he was sitting.

My local ward is full of migrants it is about the only people they convert because no one else is interested and they used to get a lot of chinese students but now they mostly get an frican and latin migrants and they mostly come for the church welfare and then go away again and are there for not much time at all.

I guess that depends on whether the government is endorsing mass migration this week or not. Those crops won't pick themselves.

Given the Mormon Church’s reputation for being whiter than Wonderbread, I doubt any LDS chapel would be on ICE’s radar. I supposed I could ask the neighbors which make me Mormon Adjacent but I don’t want them to think I’m interested in getting dunked.

You must not be aware of the number of Spanish speaking wards there are in the US.

The question isn’t one of my awareness but ICE’s awareness.
Iglesia Evangelica Hispana is more likely to trigger their radar than an LDS chapel.

Surely an illegal immigrant would have problems being a TBM?

They'd have difficulties with Question nine of the Temple Recommend quiz. Sorry, I mean interview.

"9. Do you strive to be honest in all that you do?"

"No, I'm an illegal immigrant."

Oops! :o))

There is no such thing as an illegal immigrant. There are, however, undocumented immigrants, people who were unable to bring documentation with them for whatever reason when they left their home countries.

Indeed.

And such subsets of undocumented immigrants as refugees and asylum seekers have status until their cases are heard due to treaties the US has signed and implementing legislation that the US has adopted.

Of course now that the country has decided treaties and laws no matter matter, there's no telling what status foreigners and even citizens still enjoy.

Replying "I'm an immigrant" is an honest response.

I too am an immigrant, brought to North America at age 3 by my parents. At age of majority I had the opportunity to choose Canadian citizenship.

It's all the luck of the draw. I have deep empathy for those who seek better lives for themselves and their children. Unfortunately for many, it's not an open door like it was for us.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/02/2025 03:07PM by Nightingale.

Apparently the Quakers are suing on the grounds that their freedom of religion is being impinged. They feel that they are suing on behalf of all religious groups.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/quaker-groups-sue-trump-administration-over-new-policy-permitting-ice-in-places-of-worship/ar-AA1y4SlS?ocid=BingNewsSerp

summer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Apparently the Quakers are suing on the grounds
> that their freedom of religion is being impinged.
> They feel that they are suing on behalf of all
> religious groups.
>
> https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/quak
> er-groups-sue-trump-administration-over-new-policy
> -permitting-ice-in-places-of-worship/ar-AA1y4SlS?o
> cid=BingNewsSerp

If ICE came into our local SM there would be almost no one left apart from the bishhopric