US throws out policies limiting arrests of migrants at sensitive locations

WASHINGTON, Jan 22: Officers enforcing immigration laws will now be able to arrest migrants at sensitive locations such as schools and churches after the Trump administration threw out policies limiting where those arrests could be made.
The move reverses guidance that for over a decade has restricted two key federal immigration agencies — Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection — from carrying out immigration enforcement in sensitive locations.
“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. Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement on Tuesday.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement guidance dates back to 2011. The Customs and Border Protection issued similar guidance in 2013.
Meanwhile, four Bangladeshis have been arrested by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in New York as the local law enforcement agencies have launched a massive crackdown on undocumented illegal immigrants since Donald Trump returned to office as the 47th President of the United States on Monday.
The four Bangladeshis were arrested by the ICE from the Fulton area of the Brooklyn borough of New York, Bangladesh’s leading daily Prothom Alo reported on Wednesday.
It revealed further that undocumented illegal immigrants have been living “in fear” since Trump was sworn in and passed a series of executive orders related to immigration.
“It has been observed on the ground that the streets and restaurants in Bengali-dominated areas, where there used to be a large crowd of people, are now almost completely empty. Security arrangements have already been strengthened,” the newspaper reported.
The also report quoted Khadija Muntaha Ruba, a law enforcement officer working with immigrants in New York, as saying that the undocumented Bangladeshis were arrested while they were “hanging out” in the area.
“Muntaha advised Bangladeshis to be cautious and said that they should cooperate if questioned by members of any law enforcement agency. They should stop working with someone else’s work permit. In these difficult times, they should not get involved in unnecessary police or other disputes or troubles,” it added.
In an Executive Order signed on January 20, immediately after he took office, Trump emphasised that, over the last four years, the prior administration “invited, administered, and oversaw” an unprecedented flood of illegal immigration into the US.
“Millions of illegal aliens crossed our borders or were permitted to fly directly into the United States on commercial flights and allowed to settle in American communities, in violation of longstanding Federal laws,” it said.
“Many of these aliens unlawfully within the United States present significant threats to national security and public safety, committing vile and heinous acts against innocent Americans. Others are engaged in hostile activities, including espionage, economic espionage, and preparations for terror-related activities,” the order stated.
The number of Bangladeshis arriving in the United States has been surging at an alarming level over the past couple of decades.
Meanwhile, Afghans who fled after the Taliban seized power appealed Wednesday to Trump to exempt them from an order suspending the relocation of refugees to the US, some saying they risked their lives to support US troops.
An estimated 15,000 Afghans are waiting to be relocated to the United States since the Taliban takeover in 2021, when US troops pulled out of the country after two decades.
They want to resettle in the US via an American government programme set up to help Afghans at risk under the Taliban because of their work with the US government, media, aid agencies and rights groups. (Agencies)