WASHINGTON — The Trump administration announced major changes to U.S. immigration policy on Tuesday, Jan. 21, reversing rules that previously prevented ICE from making arrests in "sensitive areas."
Announced by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman, this new policy gives ICE agents more power to catch criminals who are in the U.S. illegally as long as they use common sense.
“This action empowers the brave men and women of Customs and Border Protection and ICE to enforce our immigration laws and catch criminal aliens — including murderers and rapists,” a spokesperson for DHS said.
These rules were first put in place in 2011 to protect immigrant communities from being targeted by ICE in places like schools, hospitals, funerals, and weddings. The Biden administration kept these protections, but the Trump administration argued that they had limited the ability of law enforcement to do their jobs properly.
In the first 33 hours of the Trump administration, ICE arrested more than 460 illegal immigrants across several states, including Illinois, Utah, California, Minnesota, New York, Florida, and Maryland.
Along with expanding ICE's arrest powers, the Trump administration also announced it would end a program that allowed migrants to temporarily live and work in the U.S. through humanitarian parole.
While the Biden administration expanded this program to help migrants fleeing dangerous situations, DHS officials argue it had been abused, with nearly 1.5 million people granted parole.
“This action will return the humanitarian parole program to its original purpose of looking at migrants on a case-by-case basis,” a DHS spokesperson explained. By limiting the use of this program, the Trump administration hopes to reduce the number of people coming to the U.S. through it.
These changes are part of the Trump administration’s larger efforts to tighten immigration laws and strengthen border security.
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