Trump Approves Immigration Arrests at Hospitals, Churches, and Schools

The Trump administration announced on Tuesday a significant shift in immigration policy, allowing federal immigration agencies to carry out arrests in sensitive locations such as schools, churches, and hospitals. This move ends a long-standing policy that protected these locations from immigration enforcement.

In a statement, Acting Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman declared the termination of two key directives, providing immigration agents with greater authority to carry out arrests at sensitive sites. The change eliminates a legal pathway that previously shielded certain places from enforcement actions.

“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,” the statement read.

The policy reversal ends a 2011 directive issued by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that prohibited agents from making arrests in these locations, which was later echoed by the Biden administration. The decision has sparked concerns from immigrant advocates, who warn that it will create fear within immigrant communities. They argue that it could deter children from attending school and discourage individuals from seeking medical care in hospitals for fear of being arrested.

Additionally, the administration has moved to phase out certain parole programs that allowed migrants to temporarily live and work in the United States. The Trump administration claims that the Biden administration misused these programs by extending them to a wide range of nationalities.

The statement did not specify which parole programs would be affected, but indicated that future decisions would be made on a “case-by-case” basis. “The Biden-Harris Administration abused the humanitarian parole program to indiscriminately allow 1.5 million migrants to enter our country. This was all stopped on day one of the Trump Administration,” the statement added. “This action will return the humanitarian parole program to its original purpose of looking at migrants on a case-by-case basis.”

The policy changes have sparked immediate backlash. Carmen, an immigrant from Mexico, expressed her concern upon hearing the news. “Oh, dear God! I can’t imagine why they would do that,” she said. Carmen, who plans to take her two grandchildren, ages 6 and 4, to their school in the San Francisco Bay Area the following day, explained she would only take them if school officials confirmed that it was still safe for them to attend.

The reversal of these policies is likely to have wide-reaching implications for immigrant communities in the U.S., especially as it pertains to their interactions with critical services like education and healthcare.