Trump Authorizes ICE to Arrest Illegal Immigrants at Schools and Churches, Reversing Policy That Protected 'Sensitive Locations'

Just hours after President Trump's inauguration, his administration revoked a Biden-era policy that prohibited arrests by U.S. immigration agents at or near schools, places of worship and other places deemed to be "sensitive locations." Benjamine Huffman, whom the Trump administration installed as acting homeland security secretary pending the confirmation of South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, issued a memo on Monday reversing the Biden administration's immigration arrest guidelines on "sensitive locations." That policy, signed by former Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, instructed Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection to refrain from apprehending unauthorized immigrants at or near locations "that would restrain people's access to essential services or engagement in essential activities." Those locations included schools; places of worship; hospitals and other healthcare facilities; shelters; relief centers; and public demonstrations, like rallies and protests.

Officers enforcing immigration laws will now be able to arrest migrants at sensitive locations like schools and churches after the Trump administration threw out policies limiting where those arrests could happen as the new president seeks to make good on campaign promises to carry out mass deportations. The move announced Tuesday reverses guidance that for over a decade has restricted two key federal immigration agencies — Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection — from carrying out immigration enforcement in sensitive locations.

The Trump Department of Homeland Security has empowered federal law enforcement officers to go into schools and churches to arrest illegal immigrants following a yearslong bar from entering those facilities. The acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman on Tuesday issued a directive to employees at Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection to make arrests inside those facilities and outside on nearby property. “This action empowers the brave men and women in CBP and ICE to enforce our immigration laws and catch criminal aliens — including murders and rapists — who have illegally come into our country,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement. “Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest. The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense.”