Donald Trump is following through on some—albeit unpopular—campaign promises. On Tuesday, the Department of Health and Human Services released a statement rescinding all of the Biden administration’s guidelines for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) “that thwart law enforcement in or near so-called ‘sensitive’ areas.”
In 2021, the Biden administration expanded the definition of “sensitive locations” to include social services spaces in the locations where ICE could not arrest people. This meant places such as domestic violence shelters, food banks, counseling facilities, and disaster response centers were off limits for federal raids of undocumented immigrants.
At a protest against ICE raids in Oregon, a person holds a sign that reads, “ICE: Stop hunting people.”
But Trump’s new guidance doesn’t just remove Biden’s expansions, but it also includes plans to now allow ICE to raid and arrest people in places of worship, hospitals, and schools.
“The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, a]nd instead trusts them to use common sense,” a DHS statement said.
Under the first Trump administration, ICE did not have a good record of using “common sense,” with numerous lawsuits and allegations of systemic sexual abuse.
“I said a few times here and there before the election that we’ll see what the mass deportation plan looks like when it’s ICE agents dragging grandmothers out of churches and, well, here we are,” New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie wrote on Bluesky.
How this will all unfold remains unclear. Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan recently walked back some of the mass deportation promises made during Trump’s campaign, though the Trump administration has already planned immigration raids in sanctuary cities like Chicago.
While Trump might not be able to deport tens of millions of people as he promised, he is certainly keeping true to his promise to terrorize Americans and their families.
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