Donald Trump vowed during his most recent run for office to “carry out the largest domestic deportation operation in American history,” with JD Vance saying at one point that 1 million people could be deported every year of Trump’s second term, or more than double the amount deported during his entire term the last time he was president. Obviously, an operation of this scale would be unprecedented. One way the incoming administration plans to make things slightly easier for itself (and more terrifying for its targets)? Going after undocumented people in locations that have previously been off-limits.
NBC News reports that Trump “intends to rescind a long-standing policy that has prevented Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from arresting undocumented people at or near so-called sensitive locations, including houses of worship, schools, and hospitals or events such as funerals, weddings, and public demonstrations without approval from supervisors, according to three sources familiar with the plan.” According to the outlet, Trump plans to scrap the policy on his first day in office in order to “boost ICE’s authority to arrest migrants across the country, and its speed in doing so.”
Under the current policy, threats to national security, terror concerns, or matters having to do with dangerous felons allow ICE agents to make arrests at sensitive locations. However, they must get prior approval to make an arrest in such a venue. (According to NBC News, agents “could also go in to make an arrest in exigent circumstances when they felt immediate action was required, but needed to consult with superiors after the fact.”) The need for prior approval was implemented in 2011, according to NBC News. “Immigration enforcement has always required a balance. In the past, presidents of both parties have recognized that merely because it may be lawful to make arrests at hospitals and schools doesn’t mean it’s humane or wise public policy,” Lee Gelernt, an attorney with the ACLU, told NBC News. “We don’t want people with contagious diseases too scared to go to the hospital or children going uneducated because of poorly considered deportation policies.”
Over the weekend, longtime Trump adviser and family separation architect Stephen Miller told Fox News that on day one of his second term, the president-elect will “issue a series of executive orders that seal the border shut and begin the largest deportation operation in American history.”
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