Just Hours After Inauguration, Trump Reverses Biden-era Limits on Immigration Arrests at Schools and Churches

Jan 21, 2025, 10:12 PM

Just hours after his inauguration on January 21, President Donald Trump's administration revoked policies from the Biden era that limited immigration arrests at sensitive locations such as schools, churches, and hospitals. The Department of Homeland Security announced that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are now permitted to make arrests in or near these areas, reversing longstanding guidance that discouraged enforcement actions in places deemed "protected" or "sensitive." Acting Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman issued a directive allowing federal agents to arrest illegal immigrants at locations that were previously off-limits, marking a significant shift in immigration enforcement policy. These policy changes are part of the Trump administration's broader efforts to tighten immigration enforcement and increase arrests and deportations of undocumented immigrants. The new directives have raised concerns among schools, hospitals, churches, and migrant communities that had previously been considered safe from immigration enforcement actions.