Catholic League Demands Booker Retract ICE Church Raid Claims, Cites Communist Paper as Only Source

The Catholic League has fired off an open letter to Sen. Cory Booker demanding he retract claims that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have been "dragging Americans out of churches" -- but the organization's own rebuttal accidentally confirms a pattern of ICE operations targeting religious spaces and their surrounding areas.

In the April 8 letter, Catholic League President William Donohue accuses Booker of making "manifestly untrue" statements during an April 6 appearance on Fox News. Donohue claims the only source supporting Booker's characterization is an article in People's World, which he dismissively identifies as "formerly known as the Daily Worker, an organ of the Communist Party of the United States."

But Donohue's letter undermines its own argument by acknowledging multiple incidents of ICE enforcement actions at or near churches. The letter confirms that on February 26, a migrant was arrested "while running across the church parking lot" at North Hills United Methodist Church in the San Fernando Valley. It also verifies that a "Latino man trimming a church lawn in Charlotte, N.C." was arrested by ICE agents.

The Catholic League dismisses these incidents as insufficient evidence of church raids, arguing that arrests in parking lots or on church grounds don't constitute being dragged "out of churches." This appears to be a semantic argument about whether enforcement actions targeting people on church property count as violations of sanctuary spaces.

Donohue's letter also references reports of "ICE vans and agents swarming in front of" a Chicago woman's house "very close to the church," though he characterizes this as mere speculation rather than evidence of actual church raids.

The timing is notable. The People's World article cited by Donohue ran on December 2, 2025, claiming ICE "is ushering in the Christmas season by launching immigration raids inside churches across the country." Donohue calls this a lie and says "not one example is cited" -- yet his own letter proceeds to cite multiple examples of ICE operations at churches or on church property.

The Catholic League's demand that Booker retract his statement hinges on a narrow definition of what constitutes a church raid. By their logic, arresting someone in a church parking lot, on a church lawn, or near a church building doesn't count as targeting religious spaces -- even though these are all church property or areas where congregants and workers would reasonably expect some measure of sanctuary.

Booker's office has not yet responded to the letter. The senator's chief of staff, Veronica Duron, was copied on the correspondence.

The broader context here is significant. Churches have historically served as sanctuary spaces, and immigration enforcement actions on or near church property represent a departure from longstanding norms about respecting religious institutions. Whether ICE agents physically enter a sanctuary or arrest people in the parking lot may be a distinction without a difference for communities watching enforcement actions unfold at their places of worship.

The Catholic League's letter also reveals the rhetorical strategy of dismissing sources based on political affiliation rather than factual accuracy. By emphasizing People's World's Communist Party origins, Donohue attempts to discredit the reporting without actually disproving the underlying claims -- claims his own letter partially corroborates.

What remains undisputed: ICE has conducted enforcement operations at multiple churches, arresting people on church property and in areas immediately adjacent to houses of worship. Whether that constitutes being dragged "out of churches" or merely arrested "near churches" may depend on how much credence you give to property lines versus the broader concept of sanctuary.