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Original Date Announced
March 18, 2020COVID-19: ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations is focusing enforcement on public safety risks and individuals subject to mandatory detention based on criminal grounds, while exercising discretion to enforce or to use alternatives to detention for individuals outside these criteria. ICE will not carry out enforcement operations at or near health care facilities, such as hospitals, doctors' offices, accredited health clinics, and emergent or urgent care facilities, except in the most extraordinary of circumstances. [ID #454]
Updated ICE Statement on COVID-19Effective Date
March 18, 2020Subsequent Trump-Era and Court Action(s)
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September 12, 2020
NYT: After a Pandemic Pause, ICE Resumes Deportation Arrests
The New York Times reports that ICE agents made 300 arrests in Los Angeles. More than a thousand others were arrested in New York, Atlanta and Phoenix, as well as in cities in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, Utah, and Wyoming. [ID #1055]
Go to article on nytimes.com -
September 29, 2020
ICE preparing targeted arrests in ‘sanctuary cities,’ amplifying president’s campaign theme
The idea for a campaign publicizing criminal arrests in sanctuary jurisdictions has been floated repeatedly during the Trump administration, two officials said, and was actively under consideration this spring before the coronavirus pandemic. After the outbreak, ICE deferred some of its enforcement plans, citing health risks, and during that time, the agency’s arrests dropped by about one-third, statistics show. The decision by then-acting director Matt Albence was popular with ICE personnel who worried about exposing their families to the novel coronavirus, but Trump administration officials were irritated and wanted the president to be able to run on a campaign of tough enforcement, according to ICE and DHS officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they did not want to get into trouble with the White House. Albence retired last month.
Go to article on washingtonpost.com -
ICE Arrested More Than 100 Immigrants In California Weeks Before The Presidential Election
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials arrested more than 100 immigrants across California in an operation last week, the latest effort by the agency to target the state and its policies that reduce the cooperation between local police and federal agents when it comes to immigration enforcement. The details of the operation, which occurred last week in Northern and Southern California and were described to BuzzFeed News by a source with knowledge of it. For subsequent ICE press release, see https://www.dhs.gov/news/2020/10/07/dhs-announces-ice-enforcement-actions-criminal-aliens-released-due-california
Go to article on buzzfeednews.com
Current Status
Fully in EffectOriginal Trump Policy Status
Status: ReportedTrump Administration Action: Change in PracticeSubject Matter: Interior Sanctuary RestrictionsAgencies Affected: ICEAssociated or Derivative Policies
Pre Trump-Era Policies
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February 21, 2017
A February 2017 memo from ICE Executive Associate Director Matthew Albence ordered all officers in the Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) unit to “take enforcement action against all removable aliens encountered in the course or their duties," noting that DHS no longer exempts classes or categories of noncitizens from enforcement. However, the memo still directed ERO officers to prioritize noncitizens who have been convicted or charged with a criminal offense.
ICE Memo: Implementing the President's Border Security and Interior Immigration Enforcement Policies
Documents
Trump-Era Policy Documents
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New Policy
Original Source:
Updated ICE statement on COVID-19
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Prior Policy