On January 20, 2025, the Trump Administration rescinded a Biden-era policy that protected certain areas—such as churches, school, and hospitals—from immigration enforcement, replacing it with an unreleased directive that gives ICE agents unbridled power to take enforcement actions in any of these spaces using so-called “common sense.” Protecting sensitive locations from immigration enforcement is essential to ensuring all our community members can access basic services and support without fear—the policy’s rescission constitutes an attack on immigrant communities’ wellbeing and undermines safety for all. In the wake of a litany of cruel executive orders targeting immigrants—and sanctuary policies—the rescission is especially pernicious in its attempt to make immigrants feel unsafe even in spaces that are the core of a civil society. 

This factsheet describes what the protected areas policy was, what laws apply to those areas now, and what steps advocates and communities can take to support immigrants in continuing to access critical community spaces and services. For more Know Your Rights information, please see NILC’s general KYR guidance and check back for area- and issue-specific updates.