Trump administration strips schools, churches of immigration enforcement protections

President Trump appears in the Oval Office following his inauguration on Monday. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images hide caption

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Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Immigration authorities can now enter schools, healthcare facilities and places of worship to conduct arrests, according to a new policy from the Department of Homeland Security.

"Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America's schools and churches to avoid arrest," a DHS spokesperson said in a statement. "The Trump administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense."

The directive, which covers agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, rescinds guidance from the Biden administration that created "protected areas" that primarily consisted of places where "children gather, disaster or emergency relief sites, and social services establishments."

The Biden-era guideline mandated that immigration enforcement operations shouldn't take place  in or near a location that would limit peoples' access to "essential" services or activities.

A second directive DHS announced on Tuesday also followed through on one of President Trump's executive orders signed Monday night to "terminate all categorical parole programs that are contrary to the policies of the United States established in my Executive Orders," including the humanitarian parole program for people from Nicaragua, Cuba, Haiti and Venezuela.

Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, told CNN on Tuesday that "ICE is back doing their job, effective today," and that agents are focused on migrants considered a public safety threat.

Homan said arrests of migrants without a criminal record could also be swept up by ICE, especially those living in sanctuary jurisdictions: cities where local law enforcement is prohibited from assisting federal immigration officials.

He declined to provide specific information on locations.

"There are going to be more collateral arrests in sanctuary cities because they forced us to go into the community and find the guy we are looking for," Homan said.