Shortly after President Donald Trump took office, his administration eliminated a Department of Homeland Security policy that previously limited where federal immigration arrests and other enforcement actions can take place.
The Department of Homeland Security’s new directive “rescinds the Biden administration’s 2021 guidelines for Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that thwart law enforcement in or near so-called ‘sensitive’ areas,” the agency said in a statement.
“Sensitive,” or protected, areas under the now-revoked Biden administration guidance include schools, hospitals, churches, places where children gather, and domestic violence shelters, among others. The protected areas policy isn’t new and was in place during Trump’s first administration. Biden’s guidance just expanded the areas protected under the policy.
This new guidance revoking this policy prompted questions from people online, including whether ICE agents can now raid schools, churches and hospitals.
Here’s what we can VERIFY.
THE SOURCES
- DHS memo on immigration enforcement actions in or near protected areas dated Jan. 20, 2025
- DHS 2021 memo on immigration enforcement actions
- National Immigration Law Center (NILC)
- Julia Gelatt, associate director of the U.S. Immigration Policy Program at the Migration Policy Institute
- Project South Institute for the Elimination of Poverty and Genocide
- Sapochnick Law Firm, an immigration law firm
- Chicago Public Schools
- Worcester Public Schools in Massachusetts
WHAT WE FOUND
On Jan. 20, 2025, Acting Department of Homeland Security Benjamine Huffman issued a memo rescinding the Biden administration’s 2021 guidance for ICE and CPB. That guidance restricted immigration enforcement actions, including arrests, in or around protected areas, such as churches, schools, medical facilities and domestic violence shelters, among others.
CBP and ICE enforce immigration laws at the border and inside the U.S., respectively.
Since the Trump administration revoked the previous guidance, it no longer designates certain areas as protected from immigration enforcement actions. Huffman said in the DHS memo that it is “not necessary…for the head of the agency to create bright line rules regarding where our immigration laws are permitted to be enforced,” stressing that law enforcement officers should “use a healthy dose of common sense.”
Here’s what ICE agents can and can’t do now.
ICE agents can enter public areas without permission
Anyone, including ICE agents, can enter public areas of an organization without permission, according to the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) and Gelatt.
Areas open to the public can include lobbies, waiting areas or parking lots, the NILC says.
But that doesn’t mean ICE has the authority to stop, question or arrest just anyone who is in a public area, the NILC says. That still requires a warrant or probable cause to believe that the person does not have legal status in the United States.
“Probable cause can be established through questioning of individuals who disclose their immigration status or documentation that indicates they are noncitizens,” the NILC says.
ICE agents need a judicial warrant or permission to enter areas not open to the public
ICE agents can be prohibited from going into private areas of an organization unless they have a judicial warrant or express permission, Gelatt and the NILC say.
That’s because the Fourth Amendment protects areas where people have a “reasonable expectation of privacy.”
The definition of a private area can differ depending on the business or institution, but it essentially means the space isn’t freely accessible to the public. This could include interiors or areas marked with a private sign, the NILC explains.
Most K-12 schools are generally considered private areas since they limit who can be in the building and make people check in at a front office for security reasons, Gelatt explained.
In that case, the school could demand the agents show a judicial warrant to enter the building, she added.
The same thing goes for private areas in churches, businesses, hospitals and medical clinics, among other places.
What warrants ICE needs for immigration enforcement
ICE agents need a judicial warrant to enter private areas. But ICE agents usually have what is called an administrative warrant, “which doesn’t have the same power to permit them entry” as a judicial warrant, according to Gelatt.
Administrative warrants are issued by a federal agency such as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or ICE itself, and will be signed by an immigration officer such as an ICE agent or immigration judge, according to the Project South Institute for the Elimination of Poverty and Genocide.
Administrative warrants do not grant ICE agents entry into private spaces, but they do allow agents to stop, question and arrest people suspected of violating immigration laws in public areas, Sapochnick Law Firm, an immigration law firm, says.
A judicial warrant, on the other hand, is the same kind of warrant police officers use for criminal searches.
Judicial warrants, which are issued by a court and signed by a judge or magistrate, will specify the location to be searched, the time period the search must take place, describe the place or person to be searched and describe the things to be seized, according to the Project South Institute for the Elimination of Poverty and Genocide.
What this means for schools
K-12 schools are generally considered private spaces since they limit who can be in the building and make people check in at a front office for security reasons, Gelatt said.
Since schools are often private areas, they may have policies not to allow ICE agents to enter without a judicial warrant or other permission.
For example, Chicago Public Schools and Worcester Public Schools in Massachusetts say they will not allow ICE agents to access their facilities without a “criminal judicial warrant signed by a federal judge.”
Portland Public Schools in Oregon also requires federal agents to present court orders before accessing school properties beyond front offices, VERIFY partner station KGW reported.
Areas that might be considered public spaces could include the school’s parking lot, unless there are signs up that mark it as private, Gelatt said.
College campuses would be public if anyone can walk there, but buildings and dorms would likely be considered private if the general public cannot enter them, she said.
What this means for churches
When it comes to churches, ICE agents can enter public spaces that are open to congregants, the NILC says. This could include an area where the public attends church services or Mass.
However, ICE agents cannot enter private areas such as offices and houses for clergy without a judicial warrant or express permission, according to the NILC.
Churches can also clearly identify which areas are private outside of times when they are open to the public for events, the NILC says.
Rev. Beth Brown, a pastor of the Lincoln Park Presbyterian Church in Chicago, told NBC News that she believes local policies will continue to protect spaces she still considers safe.
“ICE cannot enter our building without a signed judicial warrant,” even with the policy change, she said.
What this means for hospitals
For hospitals and other health care facilities, private areas are also off-limits without a judicial warrant or express permission.
Public areas in these facilities that ICE agents are allowed to enter could include waiting rooms. But other spaces where care is provided, such as exam rooms and offices, would be considered private, Gelatt said.
However, in some cases, a waiting room may be open only to patients and people accompanying them, while the public must remain in areas outside of the building, the NILC says.
VERIFY digital journalist Emery Winter contributed to this report.