The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has clarified that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) does not conduct raids or target schools.
“The media is sadly attempting to create a climate of fear and smear law enforcement. These smears are contributing to our ICE law enforcement officers facing 1,000% increase in assaults against them,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “ICE is not conducting enforcement operations at, or ‘raiding,’ schools. ICE is not going to schools to make arrests of children. Criminals are no longer able to hide in America’s schools to avoid arrest. The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement and instead trusts them to use common sense. If a dangerous illegal alien felon were to flee into a school, or a child sex offender is working as an employee, there may be a situation where an arrest is made to protect public safety. But this has not happened.”
The facts are DHS’s directive allowing ICE to go into schools gives our law enforcement the ability to do their jobs. Our agents use discretion. Officers would need secondary supervisor approval before any action can be taken in locations such as a school. We expect these to be extremely rare, the release went on to say.
The original announcement can be found here.