Philadelphia Yearly Meeting

of the Religious Society of Friends

General Secretary Lawsuit Updates

Past Updates from the General Secretary

Thursday, March 20, 2025

News on the lawsuit:
There is no new news on our lawsuit.
The second, similar Friends General Conference (FGC), has a hearing for the preliminary injunction motion scheduled for Friday, April 4th in Washington, D.C. This suit is managed by the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection (ICAP) at Georgetown Law which will hold meetings and prayer vigils in Washington, DC the day before the hearing.

Take Action:
PYM Friends and meetings will learn and discern how we can create safe spaces for people who are not safe in our country at Annual Sessions.  We will focus on four areas: Taking action, building relationships, advocating with elected officials, and learning.  Some meetings have started exploring actions and relationships already.  You can connect with others to test ideas, share inspiration and troubleshoot at connect.pym.org.

Thursday, March 13, 2025

News on the lawsuit:
The addresses for all our meetings have been shared with ICE so they know where they are not allowed to go, as required by the court. The judge stepped in to facilitate setting the boundaries for how the list can be used.

Take Action:
Join PYM Connect to share ideas, offer support, and collaborate with others who are looking to take action.  Connect is a platform for PYM Friends across our meetings and geography  to … connect! It currently provides a directory of Friends so you can find others with the same interests or who are in your monthly or quarterly meeting.  It also provides a spot for those with a heart for peace and social justice to connect and share.  Eventually it will have more functionalities but we are starting small and focused.

Discernment in your meeting:
Some meetings have set up new working groups to discern how individuals or the meeting might respond to the threat to our immigrant neighbors. They are considering direct action, advocacy with elected officials, educating themselves, and building relationships with local organizations or communities who are directly impacted by the changes in our government.  Quakers have a powerful practice of discernment and a respected voice in the community.  It is time to use those tools.

Thursday, March 6, 2025

News on the lawsuit:

Our attorneys are in the process of sharing a list of the addresses for all our meetings so ICE would know where they are not allowed to go, as required by the court. The preliminary injunction reported on last week will be in place once the Department of Homeland Security has the list.  Currently the attorneys for our suit and for the government are negotiating terms to set the boundaries for how the list can be used.

Take Action:

One PYM meeting that minuted their support for the suit also forwarded the meeting’s minute to their state and federal legislators. This advocacy is a great idea.  In addition to playing our civic and faithful role in informing those who represent us about what we want them to do in our name, state and local politicians can be encouraged to take their own steps to mitigate the impact of federal decisions. At this time when there are sweeping changes coming from the executive branch of the US government it is important to be in relationship with your national, state and local representation.

Come to Sessions:

Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business for our yearly meeting will take place this Saturday, March 8th. The agenda will consider how we are called to create safe space for those who are affected by recent changes in our country. Friends can attend in person at Arch Street Meeting House, by zoom with other Friends at one of the four satellite meetinghouses, or by zoom from your home. Find out more and register at pym.org/sessions.

Thursday, February 27, 2025

The big news this week is that a ruling by Judge Chuang of the U.S. District Court of Maryland temporarily blocks ICE from conducting immigration raids in our places of worship. The Memorandum Opinion outlines the ways in which the policy that we are challenging is likely to violate religious freedom and expression rights.  The order agrees that the new policy of the Department of Homeland Security interferes with the plaintiffs’ beliefs about “communal worship, service to immigrants, and pacifism.” However, the judge did not extend that decision to all religions and the decision is temporary, so we still have some road to travel.
Per the judge’s Order, a list of meetings’ addresses will be forwarded to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) this week to ensure they comply with the order.
Take Action:
We all need to buy food for ourselves and our family every week.  This next week, seek out an immigrant-owned store and do your shopping there. The Executive Director of HIAS-PA, an organization that supports immigrants as they build new lives, spoke at a gathering of interfaith religious leaders in the greater Philadelphia region last week. One of the stories she told was of the difficulty immigrant shop owners are facing as their staff and their customers are cautious about going out. You can try some new ingredients and support your immigrant neighbors at the same time.
Come to Sessions:
Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business for our yearly meeting will take place on Saturday, March 8th. The agenda will consider how we are called to create safe space for those who are affected by recent changes in our country. Friends can attend in person at Arch Street Meeting House, by zoom with other Friends at one of the four satellite meetinghouses, or by zoom from your home. Find out more and register at pym.org/sessions.

Thursday, February 20, 2025

  • Our case was heard by a judge as an emergency motion last Thursday.  We are now waiting for the judge’s opinion to be issued.
  • We posted a story to respond to the questions: What can meetings do to support the suit and what can meetings do beyond the suit.  Dozens of meetings within PYM and across the world have shared minutes of support for our engagement in the lawsuit.
  • There are two separate lawsuits in motion that are relevant to our suit and that are by organizations that PYM is a member of.
    • A suit very similar to ours was filed on behalf of 28 faith communities, most of which are state-wide or national. Friends General Conference (FGC) is a member of this suit, representing Quakers from across the country – including PYM. Read more in Friends Journal.
    • Church World Service (CWS) is a faith-based nonprofit whose ability to provide critical services to refugees around the world has been severely inhibited by the current administration’s suspension of the U.S. refugee resettlement program (USRAP) and its withholding of funding for related services. CWS and two other organizations (HIAS – a Jewish nonprofit that provides aid to refugees – and Lutheran Community Services Northwest) filed a lawsuit asking the court to declare the executive order suspending USRAP illegal and restore refugee-related funding. A hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, February 25.
  • From our lawyers at Democracy Forward: “We have filed more than a dozen legal challenges to the administration’s conduct, and along with others, including the state AGs, there have been more than 70 court challenges to the administration’s harmful agenda.  We have won court orders that have stopped harm and impacted the lives of millions– but there’s more work to do, and we all need to be part of it.” Join Democracy Forward on Thursday, February 20th at 9 pm ET, 6 PM PT for a Town Hall.

Thursday, February 13, 2025

  • This morning the lawyers met with the judge for oral arguments on an emergency relief request. The hearing was not one that Friends could attend so Democracy Forward is keeping us updated. The hearing was much longer than expected. The court declined to rule from the bench but indicated he would issue an opinion shortly. This page will be updated when we hear back.
  • TThe attorneys at Democracy Forward filed an amended complaint which added three new plaintiffs. We are now joined by our neighbor, New York Yearly Meeting, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, and the Sikh Temple Sacramento. The new complaint explains how welcoming immigrants is important to these plaintiffs too and show how they too are harmed by DHS’s policy.
  • A second lawsuit has been filed in opposition to the rescission of ICE’s sensitive locations policy and Friends General Conference is part of it. Read about it in Friends Journal. The suit is brought by a multifaith coalition and the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection (ICAP). They bring this suit unified on a fundamental belief: Every human being, regardless of birthplace, is a child of God worthy of dignity, care, and love.
  • TPrior to filing for emergency relief the attorneys made a request directly to the Departement of Homeland Security that they freeze their change in policy for the moment. The government declined.
  • TThe General Secretary made contact with an immigration lawyer who has worked with us in the past on personnel needs. In the event we need legal advice or support, we have this resource in place.

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