Governors are free to criticize federal policy. They are free to sue. They are free to campaign. What they are not free to do is convert state power into an operational tool against federal law enforcement.

One of the most enduring lessons of the Jim Crow era is that civil-rights violations often do not arise from openly unlawful statutes, but from selective enforcement by officials cloaked in discretion.

Across the United States, some religious organizations and clergy have moved beyond moral advocacy into operational interference with federal immigration enforcement, including physically blocking Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. These actions are defended as faith-based witness.