After the Trump administration announced plans to allow federal agents to enter into schools and churches to conduct immigration enforcement activities, Democratic representatives from sanctuary states began working to ensure these traditionally safe spaces would continue to be protected for undocumented individuals.
Santa Barbara’s Congressmember Salud Carbajal is one of a dozen legislators, including Representative Adriano Espaillat of New York and Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, who are introducing a new bill that would restore and codify these “longstanding guardrails” to protect immigrant communities from potential federal enforcement at “sensitive locations” such as educational centers, places of worship, and healthcare facilities.
In a statement announcing the “Protecting Sensitive Locations Act,” Rep. Carbajal said that the Trump administration’s day-one unraveling of the Department of Homeland Security’s “Protected Areas” policy — which had been in place since 2011 — was putting a target on places that provided “vital services,” and leaving immigrant communities at risk of being detained or arrested while seeking education, groceries, or medical treatment.
“No one should have to face the fear of being detained while taking their children to school or seeking medical care,” Carbajal said. “In light of the increasing attacks on our immigrant and mixed-status communities, this legislation will be critical to ensuring immigrant families can continue to access health care, education, and other services without the fear of being detained or separated from their loved ones.”
If passed, the bill would reestablish the policy prohibiting both Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) from undertaking enforcement activities anywhere within 1,000 feet of these protected locations.
These “sensitive locations would include: all types of medical treatment facilities and health care facilities; public and private schools, early childhood learning centers, preschools, scholastic activities, and field trips; places of worship; federal and local courthouses; DMVs and Social Security offices; polling places; labor union halls; and several other locations that provide essential or emergency services to immigrant communities, such as rape crisis centers and homeless shelters.
There are exemptions that would allow enforcement in these spaces only under “extenuating circumstances,” though federal agents would also be required to receive specific training on how to enforce in these sensitive occasions.
Read the full details of the bill here.
