In the weeks since a Christian pastor on the Wind River Reservation likened Arapaho ceremonial ways to “idol worship,” the Sunday morning rhythm has become familiar. Congregants gather inside Foundations for Nations church to pray. Protesters outside do the same. The Northern Arapaho tribal government has demanded that the church and its non-Native pastor, Sarah Lucas, leave the reservation. Lucas, who owns the land under her church, says she isn’t going anywhere. The standoff tests the boundaries of religious freedom and the right of a tribal nation to govern according to its own values and protocols.

Court cases involving Twin Cities churches and immigration enforcement highlight how the acrimonious debate continues to roil faith communities more than six months since the federal surge in Minnesota. The state turned into a symbol of defiance of the Trump administration’s policies. In one case, a Baptist church has asked for the government to be reprimanded after spying on protest-related activity on its property. In another case, protesters have asked for their charges to be dismissed after they disrupted a worship service at a church where one of the pastors served an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official.