1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

For more than a decade, the Department of Homeland Security’s Sensitive Locations policy kept immigration enforcement away from schools, places of worship, hospitals and other places that provide vital services to our community. President Trump’s decision to withdraw this policy and instead rely on ICE agents’ “common sense” puts our children and our community at grave risk. There are already reports that hospital waiting rooms are emptying out, that school attendance has dropped, and that places of worship are preparing their staff for potential ICE raids. He is directly threatening the safety and security of my community, and he must be stopped. The Protecting Sensitive Locations Act (S.455 and H.R.1061) would codify the longstanding sensitive locations policy into law and ensure that future administrations would not be able to so easily dismiss the protections in place. The Sensitive Locations policy on limiting enforcement played a critical role in providing immigrant families with a sense of security in places they accessed every day in order to thrive and contribute to their communities. It is imperative that Congress codify this policy into law so future administrations cannot disregard those protections that provide immigrant families safety.