House Democrats have introduced federal legislation that would bar immigration agents from conducting arrests, interviews, searches, or surveillance at schools and school bus stops—except in extreme circumstances.
Current guidelines for Immigration and Customs Enforcement already categorize schools and other venues and events including hospitals, places of worship, funerals, and weddings as “sensitive locations.”
The Protecting Sensitive Locations Act would enshrine those guidelines for ICE in federal law and expand the list of locations that would be banned from ICE activity to include bus stops with children, as well as federal, state and local courthouses.
Democrats introduced similar legislation in spring 2017, but it stalled in the Republican-controlled House. Now that Democrats are in the majority, the leaders are hoping the bill gains some traction.
