Washington — 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.
In a statement defending the termination of the Biden administration rule, the Department of Homeland Security said the Trump administration “will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense.”
Pro-immigrant advocates had feared the rescission of the Biden-era rules, warning that it would allow the Trump administration to bring its mass deportations plans to churches and schools.
But the Trump administration said Monday’s decision was designed to target unauthorized immigrants with serious criminal histories.
“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,” DHS said in its statement. “Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest.”
Monday’s action is part of a larger effort by the Trump administration to eliminate limits other administrations have placed on ICE operations as it lays the groundwork for what the president has pledged will be the largest deportation operation in American history. The administration is expected to ramp up immigration arrests in cities and communities with “sanctuary” policies that restrict cooperation between local enforcement and ICE.
The administration is also expected to rescind other Biden administration memos that discontinued mass immigration sweeps at worksites like factories and that limited ICE arrests to serious criminals, national security threats and recent border arrivals.
Tom Homan, Mr. Trump’s “border czar,” has repeatedly said the new administration, like every administration, will prioritize the arrest of immigrants who are in the country illegally and who have committed crimes. But he has stressed that no one will be exempt from immigration enforcement if they are in the U.S. illegally, warning that arrests of non-criminal unauthorized immigrants are likely.
Mr. Trump moved swiftly on his first day back in the White House to launch his long-expected immigration crackdown, issuing a blitz of orders that sought to deny birthright citizenship to the children of unauthorized immigrants and temporary visas holders; suspend asylum and refugee admissions; and enlist the military’s aid in border enforcement though an emergency declaration.
Another executive order directed officials to expand detention sites to hold deportees and increase agreements with local law enforcement authorities, so they can arrest and detain unauthorized immigrants as deputized immigration officers.
