Past Updates from the General Secretary
Thursday, June 12, 2025
News on the lawsuit:
There is no new news on our lawsuit this week.
In the second, similar lawsuit brought by 25+ Christian and Jewish faith communities, including Friends General Conference (FGC) there has been a new update. FGC is continuing its legal response to immigration enforcement that affects the ability to worship freely. The legal team has decided not to refile for a preliminary injunction. This decision follows a judge’s order that could lead to negative outcomes. Instead, the FGC’s legal team has filed an appeal.
Thursday, May 22, 2025
News on the lawsuit:
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting is collecting minutes shared by meetings and worship groups that speak to the lawsuit. We are collecting these minutes into a single document and sharing that document as words of encouragement.
If your community has written a minute and hasn’t yet shared it, please consider sending it to cduncan-tessmer@pym.org. These minutes help reflect the spiritual work and discernment happening across the yearly meeting, country, and world.
Thursday, May 15, 2025
News on the lawsuit:
There is no new news on our lawsuit this week.
The National Council of Churches, of which PYM is a member, has shared two resources tracking the current administration’s executive orders and explaining their potential impacts on different communities:
- Network Advocates for Catholic Social Justice’s tracker analyzes the impacts of EOs through their Economy For All agenda which includes priorities like affordable housing, accessible healthcare, and clean air & water for all.
- Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s tracker features in-depth analysis of how the EOs impact Black communities, and includes responses to the orders from members of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Thursday, May 1, 2025
News on the lawsuit:
There is no new news on our lawsuit this week.
In other news, a recent walk through an immigrant neighborhood in Philadelphia offered an opportunity to connect with local communities. Friends can learn more about that experience here.
Thursday, April 24, 2025
News on the lawsuit:
Late last week, the government filed a partial motion to dismiss some of the claims we brought in our suit, specifically those related to the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). Our attorneys’ response to the government’s motion is due on May 1.
Whatever the outcome of this motion, it will not affect our preliminary injunction (PI) that prevents Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) entering our locations. That is because the government is seeking to dismiss only the APA claims that we asserted. It is not related to the other claims which the PI was granted on – the First Amendment and Religious Freedom Restoration Act claims.
You can read the partial motion to dismiss in this document.
Thursday, April 17, 2025
News on the lawsuit:
There is no new news on our lawsuit. It is in a holding pattern for the moment. The government has a few weeks left to file a notice of appeal but our attorneys do not know if it intends to. Given that the judge granted us preliminary relief, the current slow movement isn’t a bad thing for us.
The second, similar lawsuit brought by 25+ Christian and Jewish faith communities, including Friends General Conference (FGC),, at the beginning of the month. The judge in that case denied the request for an injunction; he found that the potential harm to the religious communities was speculative and that the insufficient to demonstrate harm. This has no bearing on the suit we are involved in.
You can read about the second case on NBC news and the Mennonite’s Anabaptist World websites.
A number of the faith groups that are the plaintiffs in this case met with staffers in Democratic and Republican congressional offices in DC to advocate for the issues raised in the lawsuit and were received openly by all offices.
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
- Read the Preliminary Injunction Order which provides the order by the judge to the Department of Homeland Security.
- Read the press release from our attorneys at Democracy Forward.
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.
