Washington — Federal immigration authorities will be able to arrest people and carry out enforcement actions in and near places like churches and schools, breaking from long-standing policy of avoiding so-called sensitive areas.
In a statement, Acting Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman announced the repeal of two directives, giving agents more discretion over whether or not to enforce and eliminating a legal pathway for migrants seeking to enter the United States.
“Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid prosecution. The Trump administration will not bind the hands of our brave law enforcement officers, but rather trusts them to use common sense,” the statement reads.
It exemplifies how the new Trump administration will differ from the previous Biden administration in terms of enforcement.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement implemented a policy in 2011 that prohibits agents from making arrests in sensitive areas. The Biden administration issued similar guidance.
Immigrant advocates have expressed concerns about repealing the policy, arguing that doing so would instill fear in immigrant communities, preventing children from attending school and people from seeking medical care.
The second directive includes the elimination of parole programs, which allowed certain migrants to temporarily live and work in the United States. Republicans have repeatedly accused the Biden administration of abusing the parole program by expanding it to include multiple nationalities.
The statement does not specify which programs will be phased out, but it does state that the program will be returned on a “case-by-case basis.”
“The Biden-Harris administration abused the humanitarian parole program, allowing 1.5 million migrants to enter our country without regard for their status. This was all stopped on the first day of the Trump administration.
This action will return the humanitarian parole program to its original purpose of assessing migrants on an individual basis,” according to the statement.
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