The Barnegat Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) feels called to join with other Quaker Meetings in voicing support for the suit filed by Philadelphia Yearly Meeting and other religious organizations against the Department of Homeland Security. We believe it is right and necessary to challenge any immigration enforcement action that violates the sanctity of religious houses of worship and the free exercise of religion.
Background: On February 4, 2025, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (PYM) of the Religious Society of Friends and other religious organizations filed suit against U.S. Department of Homeland Security, et al. in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland (Civil Case No. 8:25-cv-243-TDC). PYM reports, “We are asking the court to declare unconstitutional any policy permitting government agents to carry out immigration enforcement activities at or near houses of worship.”
At the meeting for worship with attention to business on February 9, 2025, Barnegat Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends declared its support for the suit and approved the writing of a minute.
The minute is being sent to Philadelphia Yearly Meeting and to Senators Cory Booker and Andy Kim, Congressmen Christopher Smith and Jefferson Van Drew, State Senator Carmen Amato, and State Assemblymen Brian Rumpf and Gregory Myhre.
In peace,
Agnes Maderich
On behalf of Barnegat Monthly Meeting
of the Religious Society of Friends
