Trump administration allows ICE agents to make arrests at 'sensitive' locations like schools, churches

The Trump administration has thrown out protections preventing immigration officers from making arrests in or near areas deemed "sensitive"-- spaces like schools, churches, and health care facilities.

The Department of Homeland Security detailed the directive it said was issued by Secretary Benjamine Huffman the previous day on Donald Trump’s first day in office. As he did in his previous term, the president has promised to make immigration a central issue and priority, as he vowed to carry out mass deportations.

What we know:

The DHS’s move rolls back the Biden-era policy barring Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) from making arrests at such "sensitive" locations.

What they're saying:

"This action empowers the brave men and women in CBP and ICE to enforce our immigration laws and catch criminal aliens—including murders and rapists—who have illegally come into our country," a DHS spokesperson said in a statement. "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 agency said.

The other side:

In a statement, Washington, D.C.-based Center for Law and Social Policy (CLSP) said the action threatened the well-being of millions of children and will destabilize entire communities. 

"This action could have devastating consequences for immigrant families and their children, including U.S. citizen children, deterring them from receiving medical attention, seeking out disaster relief, attending school, and carrying out everyday activities," the center said. "Should ICE presence near such locations become more common, the likelihood also increases that children could witness a parent’s detention, arrest, or other encounters with ICE agents. Such exposure can harm children’s mental and physical health and negatively impact their long-term development."

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The non-profit group also noted that removing the safeguards will have a widespread impact on the wider community, especially for children attending school and daycare and those seeking healthcare. 

"And when some of us are not comfortable seeking out health care, we all are less healthy," the center said.

Local perspective:

University of San Francisco Professor Bill Hing, an expert on immigration law said the Trump administration's new policy was already putting many on edge.

"The fact that they're willing to lift that restriction is just mind-boggling to me," Ting told KTVU. "And it's already scaring people. I have calls from school teachers and parents who are afraid to send their children to school. And these are folks, some of them are U.S. Citizens, but they are from minority communities that think that they're going to be racially profiled. So already it's having devastating effect."

A vast number of Bay Area school districts have designated themselves as a "sanctuary district," which offers undocumented students and their families a safe zone from federal immigration agents. 

The San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) has declared its commitment to protecting its immigrant students.

"As a sanctuary school district, SFUSD upholds every young person’s constitutional right to feel safe and supported in school," the district said on its website.

The Oakland Unified School District (OUSD), adopted a resolution in 2016 affirming its position on immigration arrests at its schools.

"We stand behind our students no matter where they were born or the barriers they have overcome to be here," OUSD said on its website, adding, "We will do everything possible to ensure students and families are safe at school regardless of immigration status." 

What we don't know:

It's unclear how effective a sanctuary declaration will be in the face of the DHS's new directive. 

This story was reported from Oakland, Calif. 

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