Nowhere is off-limits for ICE arrests as Trump deportations ramp up

As deportation efforts have ramped up with the new Trump administration, the Department of Homeland Security has removed policies that limited where arrests could take place.

On Tuesday, the department reversed guidelines that restricted Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) from undertaking immigration enforcement in sensitive locations such as schools and churches, the Associated Press reported.

The department said in a statement Tuesday, "This action empowers the brave men and women in CBP and ICE to enforce our immigration laws and catch criminal aliens — including murderers and rapists — who have illegally come into our country. Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest." The department said that the directive had been issued by Acting Secretary Benjamine Huffman on Monday.

Under the prior "sensitive locations" guidance," officers were required to get approval for enforcement operations at such locations, though there were exceptions allowed for national security cases. During the first Trump administration, he kept these policies in place but removed similar guidance that restricted immigration enforcement at courthouses, which was reimplemented in the Biden administration.

This comes as border encounters have sharply dropped this week, with deportation flights on jumbo jets taking illegal immigrants out of the country. The number of border encounters in the first few days of the new Trump administration has been 35 percent lower than encounters reported in the last three days of the Biden administration.

The Department of Justice has directed authorities to investigate state and local government officials who interfere with federal authorities enforcing immigration law. A memo from Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove stated that laws that are "inconsistent with Executive Branch immigration initiatives" may be legally challenged by the executive branch. The memo added, "The US Attorney's Offices and litigating components of the Department of Justice shall investigate incidents involving any such misconduct for potential prosecution, including for obstructing federal functions."