Feds say Supreme Court ruling on prayer doesn’t apply to them
SILENCED: Carteret, N.J., Mayor Dan Reiman canceled an citizens swearing-in ceremony because the feds wouldn’t allow prayer.
By L. Tierney | WatchdogWire
CARTERET, N.J. — Mayor Daniel Reiman canceled a citizenship swearing-in ceremony that had been scheduled for his diverse town because the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services refused to allow a “moment of prayer” to be listed on the agenda for this event.
Reiman, a Democrat, said the recent Supreme Court ruling in support of prayer at local government meetings should apply to this situation.
Click here to see the Fox & Friends interview
“They said the Supreme Court decision doesn’t apply to federal agencies,” the mayor explained in an interview on Fox & Friends this week.
Every governmental meeting in Carteret begins with silent prayer, the mayor said, and the oath of citizenship itself refers to God, so he did not see any reason for the agency to insist on a change.
“It’s certainly important to this community, we are a very faith-based community, and it’s an infringement on our First Amendment rights to forbid a prayer,” the mayor said.
The ceremony was moved to nearby Newark.
