Immigration enforcement arrests will not be made at novel coronavirus vaccination sites nationwide, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security confirmed Monday.
Specifically, the department issued a statement classifying COVID-19 vaccination sites as “sensitive locations” that will only be targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents under “extraordinary circumstances.”
NEW: DHS statement: "U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection will not conduct enforcement operations at or near vaccine distribution sites or clinics." h/t @LukeLBarr pic.twitter.com/CSDNcxUZF4
— Evan McMurry (@evanmcmurry) February 1, 2021
In its statement, the department cited the “moral and public health imperative to ensure that all individuals residing in the United States have access” to a COVID-19 vaccine, and encouraged all residents, regardless of immigration status, to seek inoculations once local distribution guidelines deem them eligible.
DHS also announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency, in collaboration with federal partners, will “coordinate efforts to establish and support fixed facilities, pop-up or temporary vaccination sites, and mobile vaccination clinics.”
ICE has previously included health care facilities as well as churches among the sensitive locations where arrests would generally not be carried out, The Associated Press reported.
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Cox Media Group
