President Trump appears in the Oval Office following his inauguration on Monday.
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Immigration authorities can now enter schools, health care facilities and places of worship to make arrests, according to a new policy from the Department of Homeland Security.
“Criminals will no longer be able to hide in American schools and churches to avoid arrest,” says the DHS. the spokesperson said in a statement. “The Trump administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, but will trust them to use common sense.”
The directive, which covers Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection officers, repeals the directives of the Biden administration which created “protected areas” consisting primarily of places where “children congregate, disaster or emergency relief sites, and social service facilities.”
The Biden-era directive required that immigration enforcement operations should not take place in or near any location that would limit people’s access to “essential” services or activities.
A second directive announced by DHS on Tuesday also followed one of President Trump’s executive orders signed Monday evening to “end all categorical parole programs that are contrary to the policies of the United States established in my executive orders,” including the Humanitarian Parole Program for people from Nicaragua, Cuba, Haiti and Venezuela.
Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, told CNN Tuesday that “ICE is back to do its job, effective today,” and that agents are focusing on migrants considered a threat to public safety.
Homan said arrests of migrants without criminal records could also be swept up by ICE, particularly those living in sanctuary jurisdictions: cities where local law enforcement is prohibited from assisting federal agents. ‘immigration.
He declined to provide specific location information.
“There’s going to be more collateral arrests in sanctuary cities because they forced us to go out into the community and find the man we’re looking for,” Homan said.
