PORTLAND, Ore. — Oregon church and farmworker organizations joined a federal lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday, seeking to restore protections that previously limited immigration enforcement at places of worship, schools and hospitals.
The lawsuit, filed in Eugene, includes two Oregon plaintiffs: Augustana Lutheran Church in Portland and PCUN, a farmworkers union representing more than 6,000 members. They challenge a January decision by the Department of Homeland Security to rescind a policy that had designated certain areas as “sensitive locations” where Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations were restricted.
Augustana Lutheran Church has been at the center of immigration debates for decades. In 2014, the sanctuary church protected Francisco Aguirre for more than two months when ICE agents tried to deport him to El Salvador. Aguirre said returning to his home country would be “a death sentence” for him…