WASHINGTON — A federal judge has dealt a blow to religious groups pushing to reverse a policy from President Donald Trump’s administration that allows U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to arrest people inside places of worship.

After the administration reversed a longstanding “sensitive locations” policy barring arrests of undocumented migrants in places like churches and schools, nearly 30 religious groups sued the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in February. They argued that the policy was already affecting turnout.

Rev. Carlos Malavé is the executive director of the Latino Christian National Network, one of the dozens of organizations suing DHS. The suit claimed that because of the threat of being arrested, some churches were seeing a massive drop in attendance.

“This is a place where people must feel safe,” Malavé said. “It’s a violation of the dignity of our people and their right to worship freely.”

A federal judge ruled the groups did not have enough evidence to challenge the Trump administration policy. While the judge acknowledged the attendance drops, without more to back up the group’s claims, she called the lawsuit a “pre-enforcement challenge.”

In the opinion, the judge states the plaintiffs must present “substantial evidence of a causal relationship between the government policy and the third-party conduct, leaving little doubt as to causation and the likelihood of redress.”

Friday’s decision is not the last word in the case. The judge just ruled that there wasn’t enough evidence to justify a preliminary injunction. Malavé says while this isn’t the outcome they wanted, the plaintiffs are hopeful.

“The judge has left the door open to revisit the ruling, and she has given us an opportunity to go and find some information that will be helpful as she revised the ruling,” Malavé said. “And so we are going back to continue to advocate for our people and for the defense of the places.”