WASHINGTON, D.C- Three sources familiar with the plans of the incoming Trump administration said that there are discussions happening about revising or rescinding a long-standing policy that has prevented Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from arresting illegal immigrants at or near so-called "sensitive locations," including churches, schools, and hospitals or events such as funerals, weddings, and public demonstrations without the approval from supervisors.
One of the sources, who according to NBC News, spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that President-elect Donald Trump plans to rescind the policy as soon as the first day he is in office. The person said that the move would be intended to boost ICE's authority to arrest illegal immigrants across the country and its speed in doing so, as part of Trump's plan to carry out what he has said to be the "largest deportation operation in American history."
Under the current policy, ICE agents have been allowed to go into the sensitive locations to make arrests under certain conditions, including a national security or terror issue, the arrest of a felon considered dangerous, or if there was imminent risk of death or physical harm to a person or property or concern that evidence in a criminal investigation would be destroyed.
Even when those circumstances existed, agents had to get approval from supervisors in order to plan an arrest in one of those locations (schools, churches, hospitals). Agents could also go in to make an arrest in exigent circumstances when they felt immediate action was required, but then would have to consult with supervisors afterwards.
The policy preventing agents from making arrests in sensitive locations without approval started back in 2011 with a memo sent by then-ICE Director John Morton and continued through the first Trump and Biden administrations.
It was meant to allow illegal immigrants to operate freely in certain public areas with the idea that doing so will ultimately not benefit just them, but also the larger community. In 2021, the Biden administration issued its own guidance expanding the areas that "require special protection."
Lee Gelernt, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement, "Immigration enforcement has always required a balance. In the past, Presidents of both parties have recognized that merely because it may be lawful to make an arrest at hospitals and schools doesn't mean it's humane or wise public policy."
He added, "We don't want people with contagious diseases too scared to go to the hospital or children going uneducated because of poorly considered deportation policies."
According to data provided by ICE covering the period from October 1, 2017 through October 31, 2020, during the first Trump administration, there were at least 63 planned and five exigent ICE arrests at or near a sensitive location. In January 2017, at the beginning of Trump's first term, then-Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly rewrote several policies of both ICE and Customs and Border Protection, but did not rescind the sensitive location rule.
One former Department of Homeland Security official said changing the sensitive locations policy might be welcome news for some agents who have felt stymied by restrictions on where they can operate and felt that the policy was "abused" by wanted individuals in the past. The former official said, "I think maybe at the time, there was good reason for it. I don't think it's necessary anymore."
According to the former Homeland Security official, ICE agents already consider an individual's circumstances when considering where to best carry out an enforcement action, and removing the policy only makes things "less administratively burdensome."
One of the sources, who according to NBC News, spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that President-elect Donald Trump plans to rescind the policy as soon as the first day he is in office. The person said that the move would be intended to boost ICE's authority to arrest illegal immigrants across the country and its speed in doing so, as part of Trump's plan to carry out what he has said to be the "largest deportation operation in American history."
Under the current policy, ICE agents have been allowed to go into the sensitive locations to make arrests under certain conditions, including a national security or terror issue, the arrest of a felon considered dangerous, or if there was imminent risk of death or physical harm to a person or property or concern that evidence in a criminal investigation would be destroyed.
Even when those circumstances existed, agents had to get approval from supervisors in order to plan an arrest in one of those locations (schools, churches, hospitals). Agents could also go in to make an arrest in exigent circumstances when they felt immediate action was required, but then would have to consult with supervisors afterwards.
The policy preventing agents from making arrests in sensitive locations without approval started back in 2011 with a memo sent by then-ICE Director John Morton and continued through the first Trump and Biden administrations.
It was meant to allow illegal immigrants to operate freely in certain public areas with the idea that doing so will ultimately not benefit just them, but also the larger community. In 2021, the Biden administration issued its own guidance expanding the areas that "require special protection."
Lee Gelernt, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement, "Immigration enforcement has always required a balance. In the past, Presidents of both parties have recognized that merely because it may be lawful to make an arrest at hospitals and schools doesn't mean it's humane or wise public policy."
He added, "We don't want people with contagious diseases too scared to go to the hospital or children going uneducated because of poorly considered deportation policies."
According to data provided by ICE covering the period from October 1, 2017 through October 31, 2020, during the first Trump administration, there were at least 63 planned and five exigent ICE arrests at or near a sensitive location. In January 2017, at the beginning of Trump's first term, then-Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly rewrote several policies of both ICE and Customs and Border Protection, but did not rescind the sensitive location rule.
One former Department of Homeland Security official said changing the sensitive locations policy might be welcome news for some agents who have felt stymied by restrictions on where they can operate and felt that the policy was "abused" by wanted individuals in the past. The former official said, "I think maybe at the time, there was good reason for it. I don't think it's necessary anymore."
According to the former Homeland Security official, ICE agents already consider an individual's circumstances when considering where to best carry out an enforcement action, and removing the policy only makes things "less administratively burdensome."
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