Trump administration to unleash deportation raids on churches and schools
Washington DC - The second Trump administration's Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has given the green light for immigration officials to raid and arrest people without documentation at churches, hospitals, and schools.
The DHS on Tuesday rescinded Biden administration guidelines barring US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) from such operations in or near sensitive areas such as schools and sites of worship.
A second DHS directive reinstated expedited removal, enabling immigration officers to deport people without documentation who can't prove they've been in the country continuously for more than two years.
"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," Acting DHS Secretary Benjamine Huffman said in a statement announcing the changes.
Research indicates that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than are people born in the US.
Nevertheless, Donald Trump and his allies have doubled down on racist narratives linking crime and immigration while vowing to significantly expand mass detentions and deportations.
Trump launches assault on immigrants as he returns to White House
The newly-inaugurated president paved the way for the human rights crackdown with a host of executive orders on his first day back in the White House. These included measures to declare a national emergency at the Southern border, suspend the entry of refugees into the US, and end birthright citizenship.
"Donald Trump wasted no time in unleashing an assault on immigrant communities designed to inflict maximum cruelty and sow chaos across the country," the National Immigration Law Center said in a statement after the inauguration.
"Taken as a whole, Trump’s words and actions reveal the enormity of the danger we’re facing, which compels us all to mobilize to fight back. This is a fight not just to protect immigrants, but to also defend our democracy."
Cover photo: Frederic J. BROWN / AFP