By Fisayo Okare , DOCUMENTED | Editorial credit: Rabanser / shutterstock.com

The Trump administration has revoked a Biden-era memo prohibiting ICE from making arrests at “sensitive locations” such as schools, churches, hospitals, and shelters, according to a new directive issued by acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman.

The administration stated it “trusts” ICE to exercise “common sense.”

The Trump administration’s decision to rescind the sensitive locations memo has been received with much criticism from directly impacted community members, including advocates, allies and organizations representing immigrant rights, faith, labor, and criminal legal reform groups.

“[This] is yet another piece of evidence that they are not serious about common sense policies,” said Camille Mackler, the CEO of Immigrant-ARC, a coalition of immigration legal advocates that works on increasing access to counsel for immigrant New Yorkers. “Instead, they are determined to sow fear and inflict cruelty for no other purpose than advancing a hateful agenda.”

The directive comes after President Donald Trump announced a series of 11 executive orders directly related to immigration on Monday.

The memo from the Biden administration had set forth a policy regarding certain enforcement actions. In October 2021, it issued a memorandum instructing officers to refrain from taking enforcement actions at or near locations or protected areas. “This policy is part of DHS’s effort to avoid restricting people’s access to essential services or engagement in essential activities,” DHS said at the time. The U.S. government also implemented a similar policy via a memo during the Obama administration back in 2011.
Mackler said the Biden-era memo had provided immigrant communities with peace of mind in accessing essential services, and that I-ARC is hoping that New York City agencies “will stand strong, continuing to enact the protections that New Yorkers have fought so hard for in recent years.

Also read: Churches are grappling with how to be safe havens in spite of the Trump Administration 

In the lead up to President Donald Trump’s inauguration and in the 48 hours since then, immigrant communities and service providers had initially been concerned about the unclear state of the sensitive locations, wondering if ICE officers could head out to them for enforcement. But with this new directive, it is clear that ICE officers can now raid churches and schools, as noted in the DHS statement.

“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,” DHS said.

“Who knows how many children will be too afraid to go to school tomorrow or sit in class terrified that their parents could be arrested if they come to pick them up?” Mackler told Documented. “How many people will avoid life-saving medical care out of fear? And what are the broader consequences if immigrants no longer feel safe to report crimes, serve as witnesses, or access even city and state services?”

Mackler isn’t alone in her criticisms of the new directive. “I think the rescission of the memo is a perverse decision coming from the person who claims that free exercise of people’s faith is important to him. And make no mistake, this is about people’s free exercise of their faith to welcome immigrants to their houses of worship,” Rev. Paul Fleck, the Executive Director of Immigration Law & Justice New York, told Documented.

Beyond the memo, places of worship such as mosques and churches have been central to how sanctuary city policies originated decades ago. The term “sanctuary city” originated in the 1980s during the church-led Sanctuary Movement. Religious institutions united to protect Central American refugees fleeing civil wars after many were denied asylum, opposing their return to countries where they faced persecution.

In light of the new directive, Theo Oshiro, Co-Executive Director of Make the Road, told Documented that they are working unceasingly to educate New Yorkers about their rights so that they can protect themselves, their families, and their neighbors. “This policy has nothing to do with common sense. […] With today’s order they are stooping so low as to detain worshippers, the sick, and children in schools. Now it’s up to us to keep our families safe,” Oshiro said.

Elora Mukherjee, Jerome L. Greene Clinical Professor of Law Director, Immigrants’ Rights Clinic at the Columbia Law School, agrees. She told Documented that “this is part of the Trump administration’s plan to terrorize immigrant communities.  The administration wants to instill fear in our neighbors who are trying to bring their kids to school, who are trying to seek medical care, who are trying to pray.”

Like Mukherjee and Oshiro’s organizations, the new directive has put a lot of immigrant legal service providers, who have been grappling with an increase in hotline cases and information requests from directly impacted immigrants, on the defensive. Rosa Santana, Co-Executive Director of Envision Freedom Fund, an immigration bond fund that has freed 1,000 people from detention since 2018, told Documented that they are “working with the community of people we have freed from detention to ensure that they know their rights, develop safety plans, and can continue to support each other.”

“This is an incredibly dangerous rollback … ICE and other law enforcement agencies have proven over and over that their tactics are driven by cruelty and racism—we cannot and will not trust the discretion of these agencies to keep us safe,” Santana said.

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