Colleges will no longer be off limits for immigration enforcement operations under a directive announced by the new Trump administration's Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday.
The directive ends the practice of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection agents avoiding “sensitive” areas — including elementary and secondary schools, colleges, hospitals and churches — for enforcement actions.
The announcement came on the first full day of President Donald Trump's second administration. Trump had promised to enforce more border policies throughout his campaign.
Trump and some Republican supporters have said undocumented immigrants are overwhelming school systems. Recent research, however, has shown that newcomer students instead bring fiscal and academic benefits to school systems.
In a statement on Tuesday, a DHS spokesperson said the new policy empowers ICE and CBP actions "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 Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense,” the spokesperson said.
Advocates for immigrant and newcomer students had alerted schools that a new Trump administration could overturn DHS policy under the Biden administration that designated schools and colleges as "protected areas," meaning ICE should refrain from conducting enforcement actions “to the fullest extent possible.”
Protected areas also included places where children, teens and young adults gather, such as playgrounds, recreation centers, child care centers, school bus stops, colleges, vocational or trade schools, and preschools, elementary and secondary schools, according to the previous DHS policy.
Although the exact number of undocumented children and families is unclear, data from the Migration Policy Institute shows about 5.5 million children under age 18 were living with an unauthorized immigrant parent as of 2019. That's about 7% of the U.S. child population at that time.
How groups are responding
In a fact sheet on the policy change, the National Immigration Law Center said all people in the U.S. have certain rights regardless of immigration status, including Fourth Amendment protections from unreasonable searches and seizures and the Fifth Amendment right to remain silent when confronted by law enforcement.
"Protecting sensitive locations from immigration enforcement is essential to ensuring all our community members can access basic services and support without fear — the policy’s rescission constitutes an attack on immigrant communities’ wellbeing and undermines safety for all," NILC said in a statement on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, about 80 education and other organizations sent a letter on Jan. 20 to state and local leaders across the country urging them to reject anti-immigrant activity under the Trump administration. "An attack on immigrants is an attack on us all," the letter said. "Immigrants are deeply intertwined in the fabric of our nation and integral to the future of this country."
On the other hand, some groups applauded the DHS policy change. The Federation for American Immigration Reform praised several executive orders and other actions under the new Trump administration to address unauthorized immigration.
"With these orders, President Trump also sought to fulfill his campaign promises to end birthright citizenship, halt cartel activity, and eliminate terrorist networks," FAIR said in a statement on Tuesday. "Simultaneously, the President rescinded many of the Biden administration’s policies that opened our borders, encouraged the abuse of our asylum and parole laws, and undermined our legal immigration system."
