The Trump administration is throwing out policies that limit arrests of migrants in sensitive locations

WASHINGTON (AP) – Immigration enforcement officers will now be able to arrest migrants in sensitive places like schools and churches after The Trump administration toss out policies that limit where those arrests can take place as the new president seeks to make good on campaign promises to carry out mass deportations.

The move, announced Tuesday, changes guidance that for more than a decade has restricted two key federal immigration agencies — Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection — from conducting immigration enforcement in sensitive locations.

“This action empowers the brave men and women of CBP and ICE to enforce our immigration laws and apprehend criminal aliens—including murderers and rapists—who have entered our country illegally. Criminals will no longer be able to hide in the U.S. schools and churches to avoid arrest,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement Tuesday.

The department said Acting Secretary Benjamine Huffman issued the directive Monday.

The ICE guidance dates back to 2011. Customs and Border Protection issued similar guidance in 2013.

Trump has made cracking down on immigration a top priority, just as he did during his first term in the White House from 2017 to 2021. On Monday, he signed a series of executive actions that included cutting access to an app which facilitated the entry of hundreds of thousands of migrants; suspension of the refugee system; and promote greater cooperation between ICE and local and state governments.

He has often portrayed his efforts as freeing the immigration enforcement ability of ICE agents and others from Biden-era guidelines, which he said limited their efforts to find and remove people who no longer have authority to remain in the country.

The announcement Tuesday was expected as Trump works to fulfill his campaign promise to carry out mass deportations of anyone in the country illegally. But it was still jarring to advocates who have argued that increasing the prospect of deportation at churches, schools or hospitals could prevent migrants from getting medical care or allowing their children to go to school.

“This action can have devastating consequences for immigrant families and their children, including U.S. citizen children, discouraging them from receiving medical care, seeking disaster relief, attending school, and performing daily activities,” Olivia Golden, interim executive director of the center. for law and social policy, said in a statement.

“Should ICE presence near such locations become more common, it also increases the likelihood that children may witness a parent’s detention, arrest or other encounters with ICE agents,” Golden said.

Under the “sensitive locations” guidance, officers were generally required to get approval for any enforcement operation at those locations, although exceptions were allowed for things like national security.

Trump kept the sensitive sites guidance in place during his first administration, although he removed similar guidance that limited immigration enforcement at courthouses. The court building guide was put back in place under the Biden administration, which also issued its own update to the “sensitive locations” guidance limiting where ICE and CBP officers could conduct immigration enforcement.

Many schools around the country have prepared for this very eventuality by reaching out to immigrant families and local law enforcement.

In California, officials have offered guidance to schools about state laws that limit local participation in immigration enforcement.

“Our policy is clear and strong that immigration enforcement is not permitted on our campuses unless compelled by a valid court order,” said Diana Diaz, spokeswoman for the Fresno Unified School District, one of the largest in California. “We have been in communication with local law enforcement who have assured us that they will not support immigration enforcement across any of our schools.”

ONE solution passed by the Chicago Public Schools’ Board of Education in November said schools would not help ICE enforce immigration law. Agents would not be allowed into schools without a criminal warrant, it said.

Over the years, dozens of migrants have sought sanctuary in churches for immigration-related reasons, sometimes staying for weeks at a time to avoid ICE capture.

ONE 2018 history of The Associated Press described how since 2014 there have been at least 70 publicly known cases of people seeking sanctuary in churches for immigration-related reasons, according to Church World Service, a New York organization that supports sanctuary efforts. Of those, 51 came up since Trump took office in January 2017 promising a tougher line on immigration.