Gothamist

A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.

Gothamist

WNYC Listen Live

Donate

News

Manhattan Pastor Sues Government Over U.S. Border Surveillance

Beth Fertig

and

WNYC Staff

Published Jul 10, 2019

Modified Jul 10, 2019

FacebookTwitterRedditEmail

Never miss a story

Email address

By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .

Courtesy of NBC San Diego

Beth Fertig

and

WNYC Staff

Published Jul 10, 2019

Modified Jul 10, 2019

FacebookTwitterRedditEmail

We rely on your support to make local news available to all

Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

A Manhattan pastor is suing the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies after her name was placed on a surveillance list of 59 immigrant rights activists and journalists who went to Mexico last winter. The existence of the database was first reported by NBC San Diego in March.

Reverend Kaji Dousa, of the Park Avenue Church, claims she was interrogated at the U.S. border after counseling migrants in Tijuana in January. The complaint, filed in U.S. federal court in San Diego this week, says she and others were "targeted for increased surveillance and heightened interrogation at the border on the basis of protected speech, regarding U.S. immigration law and policy, and that in Dousa's case, this speech is compelled by her faith."

Dousa, who is also a prominent leader in New York's New Sanctuary Coalition, was part of a mobile faith clinic or "sanctuary caravan" assisting migrants in Tijuana late last year — as a caravan of asylum-seekers gained attention. She prayed with migrants and even officiated weddings. She had a special pass from the government that granted her expedited entry into and out of Mexico.

Upon crossing back into the U.S. on January 2, Dousa claims an officer from Customs and Border Protection held her for several hours and interrogated her about her work with New Sanctuary. Dousa alleges that she was asked whether she encouraged migrants to lie on their asylum applications, and that she told the CBP officer that lying would be a violation of her faith.

In March, Dousa learned she was among the 59 people the government had been keeping tabs on at the border, and that her pass for expedited entry had been revoked. The government claimed extra security was needed after violent confrontations at the border late last year, but Dousa said she wasn't near those incidents. Since learning of the database in March, she has only gone back to Mexico once — when she was accompanied by an attorney.

"Pastor Dousa does not know the full extent of the government's adverse actions against her, including what surveillance was conducted, what information it has collected, or for what purposes it may use that information,” the complaint states.

In her lawsuit, Dousa is asking the court to restore her expedited entry status, and to issue an injunction to stop the government from surveilling her.

Dousa told Gothamist/WNYC that migrants are now afraid to come to her Park Avenue Church on the Upper East Side. And when they do, she said, they take extra security steps in case anyone may be listening.

"I have to have them turn off their phones, my phone," she said. "We have to make sure they're in another room. We have to — and Lord knows whether or not there's another whole layer of surveillance in the places where we meet. We try to switch things up and go to different places."

Dousa appears to be the first person to file a lawsuit over the government database. The ACLU of San Diego did not reply to a request for comment.

Dousa said she felt her case was special because she's a pastor with religious protections under the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

"With a government that is pursuing increased religious freedoms on behalf of churches, it's curious to me that as a pastor I'm being pursued."

Dousa is represented by Arnold & Porter and the group Protect Democracy. Her lawsuit names the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection.

The government agencies said they don't comment on pending lawsuits.

Beth Fertig is a senior reporter covering courts and legal affairs at WNYC. You can follow her on Twitter at @bethfertig.

Tagged

immigration

Kaji Dousa

Beth Fertig

WNYC Staff

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

MORE news

Deer are all over New Jersey roads looking for sex, state officials warn

Mid-October through mid-December is deer mating season, which can be a danger to drivers as the sex-seeking creatures cross roadways throughout the Garden State.

Rosemary Misdary

Published Oct 16, 2026 at 4:22 p.m. ET

Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say

A transcript from an April court hearing sheds new light on what transpired at Fashion Institute of Technology.

Samantha Max

News

Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say

A transcript from an April court hearing sheds new light on what transpired at Fashion Institute of Technology.

Samantha Max

Inside the plan to fix the nearly collapsed Pfizer Building, 1/64th of an inch at a time

David Brand

School bus carrying autistic students got lost in Brooklyn for 4 hours last year

Jessica Gould

NYC’s bridges can last 'forever,' if we take care of them

Clayton Guse

Never miss a story

Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.

Sign upEmail address

By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .