“The end of the Department of Homeland Security’s sensitive locations policy strikes fear into the heart of our community, cynically layering a blanket of anxiety on families when they are worshiping God.”
From OSV News:
The Trump administration said Jan. 21 it would rescind a long-standing policy preventing Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from making arrests at what are seen as sensitive locations, including houses of worship, schools and hospitals.
Prior to his second inauguration, Trump’s transition team indicated his administration would scrap the long-standing ICE policy — which prohibits immigration enforcement arrests at such locations, as well as other sensitive events like weddings and funerals without approval from supervisors. Catholic immigration advocates expressed alarm at the announcement.
Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman directed on Jan. 20 that those guidelines be rescinded, as well as issuing another directive restricting parameters for humanitarian parole, a DHS spokesperson said.
“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.”
Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, said in a Jan. 21 statement the policy change is one of “many drastic actions from the federal government related to immigration that deeply affect our local community and raise urgent moral and human concerns.”
“The end of the Department of Homeland Security’s sensitive locations policy strikes fear into the heart of our community, cynically layering a blanket of anxiety on families when they are worshiping God, seeking healthcare and dropping off and picking up children at school,” Bishop Seitz said. “We have also seen the rapid and indiscriminate closure of the border to asylum seekers and the return of the ill-conceived Remain in Mexico policy, violating due process and restricting the few legal options available to the most vulnerable who knock on our door seeking compassion and aid.”
Bishop Seitz added that he wanted to assure El Paso’s immigrant community that “whatever your faith and wherever you come from, we make your anxieties and fears at this moment our own.”
