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.”
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.
Editor’s note: This story is developing and will be updated.
