The Trump administration has rolled back a policy from the Biden administration that banned federal immigration agents from making arrests in certain sensitive places like schools, hospitals, churches, shelters, and public events such as weddings and protests.
A spokesperson from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) defended the move, saying it would give law enforcement “more freedom to do their job.”
“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. Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest,” the spokesperson said in a statement shared by CBS News. “The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense.”
The spokesperson also criticized the Biden administration for what they called an “abuse” of the humanitarian parole program, which allowed 1.5 million migrants to enter the U.S. without full legal processes. “This was all stopped on day one of the Trump Administration,” they said, adding that the new action would bring the parole program back to its original, more selective purpose.
In addition to the arrests, DHS is phasing out other immigration programs that allowed some immigrants to stay in the U.S. under parole authority.
Pro-immigrant groups had warned that rolling back the Biden-era rules could turn schools, churches, and hospitals into targets for mass ICE raids. “Churches, hospitals, and schools all appear to now be hunting grounds for ICE enforcement operations,” said immigration attorney Krish O’Mara Vignarajah.
Allen Orr Jr., another immigration law expert, said the move wasn’t about safety or security. “It’s about fear—weaponized to isolate and divide,” he said.
On Fox Business, Trump’s “border czar,” Tom Homan, was asked whether ICE raiding a school would be too controversial. He responded by shifting the conversation to college campuses. “If we have a national security vulnerability… we have to walk on a college campus to get him, that’s something we have to do,” Homan said (video below).
VARNEY: If any when ICE went into a school to arrest someone, that would be highly contentious, wouldn't it?
TOM HOMAN: Absolutely. But then again, you know, what's our national security worth? pic.twitter.com/LYFdZzEqmF
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 21, 2025
Before the Trump administration, former Homeland Security officials had put in place similar restrictions on arrests in sensitive areas. John Morton, who served as ICE director from 2009 to 2013, and DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in 2021 both pushed for guidelines to avoid enforcement actions that could harm vulnerable communities. Mayorkas, for example, argued that making arrests at shelters or schools could discourage people from seeking necessary services like food, medical care, and shelter.
This shift in policy marks a major change in how the government will approach immigration enforcement in spaces once seen as off-limits.