Trump DHS revokes protected-areas limits on immigration arrests

On January 20, 2025, acting DHS Secretary Benjamine Huffman rescinded the Biden administration's protected-areas guidance and returned arrest decisions to ICE and CBP officers in the field. The revocation ended limits at schools, churches, medical sites, disaster shelters, and courthouses hours after Trump took office because the new administration wanted faster interior enforcement. The change reopened sensitive civic spaces to immigration arrests and set up later litigation over people being detained when they appeared for mandatory court hearings (DHS rescission memo; ICE protected-areas page; CBS News; Yale OISS; ACLU).