Jason Hopkins, DCNF

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will delay arresting illegal aliens who are not “public safety risks” during the coronavirus pandemic, the agency revealed Wednesday in a press release.

ICE is scaling back its enforcement operations in response to the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S., and will instead focus on apprehending only those who are a threat to public safety or who fall within the agency’s mandatory detention guidelines, the agency announced.

“ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) will focus enforcement on public safety risks and individuals subject to mandatory detention based on criminal grounds,” read a press release from the agency.

“For those individuals who do not fall into those categories, ERO will exercise discretion to delay enforcement actions until after the crisis or utilize alternatives to detention, as appropriate.”

The new policy begins on Wednesday, and ICE did not give a timetable for how long it could last.

“Homeland Security Investigations will continue to carry out mission critical criminal investigations and enforcement operations as determined necessary to maintain public safety and national security,” the agency statement continued.

Such critical operations include child exploitation, narcotics trafficking, gangs, human smuggling, human trafficking, and other similar activities. ICE will continue this work based on its ability to ordinate with the Justice Department, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Bureau of Prisons.

ICE made clear that its sensitive locations policy is still in effect, meaning that agents will not carry out enforcement operations at or around health care facilities — with an exception for the “most extraordinary” circumstances. The agency urged the illegal alien community to not fear seeking medical care.

The decision by ICE comes after U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services — another agency within the Department that manages the country’s legal immigration system — announced it’s canceling all public in-person activities at its offices across the country, and the State Department announced it’s suspending the U.S. Refugee Admissions Programs.

Additionally, President Donald Trump declared the U.S.-Canada border is closed off to all non-essential travel, and he confirmed Wednesday that he’s blocking all illegal aliens and asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The moves are being made in response to the spread of the coronavirus. As of Wednesday evening, more than 8,000 individuals within the country have tested positive for the disease, and over 140 U.S. patients have died from coronavirus-related illnesses.

Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].

• Author
• Recent Posts

BPR Wire

Latest posts by BPR Wire (see all)

• The Florida candidate laser-focused on eradicating horrific animal crimes - March 22, 2024
• Sabo: ‘Rush was our GOAT, there was no equal and he made it look easy’ - February 18, 2024
• Dana Bash appears to want to crawl out of her own skin when Ramaswamy ‘goes there’ on J6 - December 7, 2023

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.