In a significant policy shift, the Trump administration has dismantled long-standing restrictions on immigration enforcement at sensitive locations such as schools and churches. For over a decade, these places were considered off-limits under guidance issued to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
The updated directive now allows officers to arrest migrants in these previously protected areas, sparking widespread concern about the impact on communities. Advocates for immigrant rights warn this move could create a climate of fear, discouraging families from accessing essential services like education and worship.
"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 of Homeland Security said in a statement on Tuesday.
It should be mentioned here that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement guidance dates back to 2011. The Customs and Border Protection issued similar guidance in 2013.
Trump's radical agenda to reshape US
After taking over as the 47th President of the United States, Trump outlined a radical agenda to reshape American life and the United States’ role in the world. As was widely predicted, Trump’s speech focused on the same things he has been focused on relentlessly for years: immigration, fossil fuels, revenge and retribution, and an aggressive “America First” nationalism – a nationalism that is rapidly morphing into naked imperialism.
While the new administration's efforts to radically reshape the immigration system and engage in mass deportations will inevitably be embroiled in chaos, this second administration has learned the lessons of the first. Trump had suspended the refugee programme at the beginning of his first term, and then after reinstating it, cut the numbers of refugees admitted into the country every year. As per officials, President Trump is also expected to "end asylum," presumably going beyond what President Joe Biden has done to severely restrict it.
(With AP inputs)
