Trump says immigration authorities can arrest people in churches and schools | Trump administration

US immigration authorities will be able to arrest migrants at schools, churches and hospitals after the Trump administration reversed policies banning immigration checks in so-called “hotspots”.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection have not been allowed to do this for more than a decade. The US Department of Homeland Security, which oversees both agencies, said in a statement: “Criminals will no longer be able to hide in American schools and churches to avoid arrest..

“The Trump administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, but will trust them to use common sense,” the statement said.

The directive was one of two directives issued Tuesday by Benjamine Huffman, acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

The second directive reinstates with immediate effect what is known as “accelerated removal” on a national scale. With this authority, US Ice can quickly deport any undocumented person arrested inside the country who cannot prove they have been here continuously for more than two years.

The changes come as Donald Trump’s administration wages a major crackdown on immigration to the United States. The president signed a series of executive actions on Monday, including removing access to an app that facilitated the entry of hundreds of thousands of people, suspending the refugee system and promoting greater cooperation between Ice and local and state governments.

Administration officials have pledged to immediately begin illegally rounding up people in the United States, as part of the president’s promise to carry out “mass expulsions.” Trump’s border czar Tom Homan said in an interview Monday that immigration agents would fan out across the United States on Tuesday to arrest and deport undocumented people.

He did not specify where the raids would take place.

“They’re going to do it all over the country. We have offices across the country, and all Ice agents will be on site and enforcing the law starting tomorrow morning,” Homan said.

Advocates warned that the Trump administration’s decision to allow arrests in sensitive locations would have harmful effects.

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“This action could have devastating consequences for immigrant families and their children, including U.S. citizen children, by discouraging them from receiving medical care, seeking disaster relief, attending school and carry out their daily activities,” the Center for Law and Social Policy said in its report. a declaration.

“If Ice’s presence near such locations became more common, the likelihood would also increase that children could witness detention, arrest or other encounters with Ice agents,” the statement said. ‘organization.

Earlier Tuesday, during an inaugural prayer sermon, the Episcopal bishop of Washington directly called on Trump to “have mercy” on immigrants and LGBTQ+ people.

The Associated Press contributed to this report