Protecting Sensitive Locations Act of 2025
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To cosponsor or for any questions related to the bill please reach out to Mary Rogers or Nia Thomas.
Consequences of Rescinding the Protected Areas Policy
Since 2011, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)’s Sensitive Locations policy, also known as the Protected Areas policy, prohibited immigration enforcement actions in places that provided vital services important to well-being. In 2021, DHS announced a “protected areas” policy that strengthened and clarified the existing policy. However, on January 20, 2025, the Trump Administration rescinded the Protected Areas policy and instead directed immigration officials to use “common sense” as it applies to immigration enforcement in previously protected areas.
Although providers still have some protections in many formerly sensitive locations, the rescission will have devastating impacts on immigrants’ and their families’ sense of security and safety. Under the first Trump Administration, advocates documented the toxic fear and stress that came with increased immigration enforcement and the serious effects on families. This was apparent during the first Trump Administration, when due in part to increased immigration enforcement and anti-immigrant sentiment, immigrant families utilized health care services less and did not access safety net programs essential for meeting basic needs, even during the pandemic. During that time children were afraid to go to school, and those who did suffered; attendance and academic performance for students in immigrant families fell. Service providers and workers, many of whom were immigrants, had to deal with the stress of potential immigration enforcement actions in their workplace.
Now, with the Trump Administration fully rescinding the Protected Areas policy, those chilling consequences will likely be heightened.
The guidance on limiting enforcement in and near sensitive locations played a critical role in providing 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 longstanding policy so that future administrations cannot disregard protections that provide families safety
The Protecting Sensitive Locations Act
- Prohibits immigration enforcement actions by DHS officers or agents at or within 1,000 feet of sensitive locations, including:
- Medical treatment and health care facilities, such as hospitals, community health centers, and accredited health clinics;
- Public and private schools and other education-related locations, such as pre-schools, Head Start programs, early care and education programs, K-12 schools, colleges, universities, trade schools, school bus stops, and during school field trips;
- Places where children gather, such as playgrounds, recreation centers, and child care facilities;
- Places providing social services, including disaster or emergency response relief, such as food banks and pantries, shelters, the office of an individual’s lawyer, community-based organizations, public libraries, union halls, and other organizations and centers that provide assistance;
- Places of worship, such as churches, mosques, and synagogues;
- Religious or civil ceremonies or observances, such as sites of funerals and weddings;
- During public demonstrations, such as a march, rally, or parade;
- Government buildings, such as federal, state, or local courthouses, Congressional district offices, Social Security offices, public assistance offices, and the Department of Motor Vehicles.
- Establishes exceptions for sensitive locations in the case of exigent circumstances, such as imminent risk of death, violence, or threat to public safety. Additionally, sensitive locations do not apply to the transportation of an individual apprehended at the border to a medical facility to receive care.
- Requires annual training for DHS officers on the sensitive locations policy and annual reporting from DHS regarding enforcement actions or complaints of enforcement actions at sensitive locations.
- Prevents information from being entered into the record in a removal proceeding resulting from a violation of the sensitive locations policy and allows for the immediate termination of the removal proceeding in that instance.