Church group says ICE surveillance operation violated order banning agents from property

A nationwide alliance of churches says the Department of Homeland Security’s undercover operations at a Minnesota church earlier this year “constitute clear and egregious violations” of a court order forbidding agents from conducting immigration enforcement operations on church property.

On Thursday, the alliance filed a motion asking a federal judge to compel the government to show why it shouldn’t be held in contempt of court.

University Baptist Church in Dinkytown is part of the Alliance of Baptists and the American Baptist Churches USA, which both won the temporary injunction in the District of Massachusetts in February 2026 against the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies.

An MPR News story published Aug. 15 reports that ICE agents conducted surveillance outside and inside University Baptist Church earlier this year.

“At the start of worship services this Sunday, August 16, our interim pastor had to begin by addressing what had happened, although many congregants had already seen news reports about it,” reads a sworn declaration from church member and former church president Jean E. Lubke. “We have been shocked and upset to discover that DHS not only has been watching people coming and going from the church and not only has been doing so on Sundays, but has even entered the church building itself in order to make recordings and surveil people inside. This is a complete violation of our sacred space.”

Federal reports released in the conspiracy case against 15 anti-ICE protesters in Minnesota last week show that an undercover federal agent attended a training session of what the government described as a left-wing martial arts group in University Baptist Church’s gymnasium on May 28.

According to the report, the female agent sparred with other attendees and interviewed them about how they got involved in the group. Her recording device fell to the gymnasium floor near the end of training.

Three minutes later, the agent realized she left the device behind and retrieved it.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson released the following statement, “HSI does not comment on the existence or status of specific on-going investigations, nor on investigative methods. HSI refers all media inquiries concerning this matter to USAO for the District of Minnesota.”

In court documents, DHS officials have said it was investigating “instances where individuals and organized networks have exploited events [ie: protests against immigration enforcement operations in the Minneapolis area] to engage in acts of violence, destruction of property, intimidation of federal officers and employees, and attempt to impede federal operations.”

Reporter Jon Collins contributed to this story.