The filing also alleges the government falsely or misleadingly claimed it did not revoke or suspend her “Trusted Traveler” status. Douša’s lawyers now point to newly uncovered emails accrued through a monthslong back-and-forth process, including one that features a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer who works with the Trusted Traveler program declaring “today I suspended her Global access as well.”
Representatives for Customs and Border Protection declined to comment, citing a policy of not commenting on pending litigation.
More than 850 religious leaders signed a letter voicing support for Douša’s case in 2019, including leaders from the Parliament of the World’s Religions, Yale Divinity School, Muslim Community Network and Jews for Racial and Economic Justice.
Douša’s lawyers have also uncovered documents, they say, indicating officials were surveilling her because they suspected the weddings she officiated for immigrants amounted to marriage fraud.
Douša has responded that she made “no representations regarding the legal impact our religious ceremonies would have in any application for asylum.” She also noted a document she helped write that instructed clergy to “make sure the people understand it is a religious ceremony and certificate.”
Targeting her for performing religious marriages, Douša argues, is a violation of her religious freedom.
“I was flagged specifically for a ritual of marriage, which is really the church’s authority to determine one way or another,” she said.
Douša says the case has damaged her “public witness” and that she now fears her ministry to immigrants along the U.S.-Mexico border is not always a safe activity.
“God has called me to this work, so I will continue to do it,” she said. “But it’s really a shame that I have to do it in such a way where my government has endangered my life.”
This article originally appeared here.
