Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman issued two directives this week to help advance President Trump’s immigration agenda that will make Americans safer.
The first rescinds the Biden administration’s guidelines that prevented Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection agents from arresting illegal immigrants in “sensitive areas,” such as churches, schools, and hospitals.
“This action empowers the brave men and women in CBP and ICE to enforce our immigration laws and catch criminal aliens—including murders and rapists—who have illegally come into our country,” a DHS spokesperson said. “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 second directive ends the Biden administration’s abuse of humanitarian parole, which the spokesperson said indiscriminately allowed 1.5 million foreign nationals into the U.S. Other parole programs that go against the law will also be phased out.
“This action will return the humanitarian parole program to its original purpose of looking at migrants on a case-by-case basis,” the spokesperson added.
ICE officials praised the move, telling Fox News' Bill Melugin it will "open things up for their enforcement efforts and take the gloves off, as illegal aliens will no longer be able to hide near schools, churches, hospitals, etc to avoid arrest."
EXCLUSIVE: Late last night, President Trump’s DHS issued a memo that immediately rescinded a 2021 Mayorkas policy which limited ICE enforcement by stopping ICE from making arrests in/near “sensitive” areas like schools, churches, healthcare facilities, etc. The Trump memo throws…
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) January 21, 2025