On the day after taking office for a second term, United States President Donald Trump praised a directive announced by the Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Benjamine Huffman. The directive eliminated some immigration enforcement restrictions enacted by the previous administration under former President Joe Biden. Specifically, the DHS in the new Trump era authorizes agents to enter churches, courthouses, schools, and hospitals when conducting enforcement operations.
The previous restrictions designated certain structures as temporary sanctuaries for foreigners worshipping, attending school, conducting legal business, and getting medical treatments. These sensitive locations were off-limits to the Border Patrol, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agencies.
Under the new DHS directive, CBP and ICE agents enforcing the draconian anti-immigration policies of the Trump administration can enter all the sensitive locations of the Biden era. This means they can raid hospitals when looking for undocumented migrants and other foreigners with potentially irregular immigration status. What it doesn’t mean, however, is that they would be able to barge into an intensive care unit and wheel out a patient. Keep reading for an in-depth discussion from immigration attorneys in San Diego about where immigration officials are allowed to operate in hospitals.
Public Areas & Private Areas at Hospitals
Now that Border Patrol, ICE, and CBP agents can enter hospitals as part of Trump’s “deportation force” operations, it’s important to understand certain limits. In February 2025, the National Immigration Law Center published a review of the pertinent laws and regulations that cover the new DHS directive, and it called attention to the sections of hospitals where agents can approach and detain foreigners.
Hospital areas that are open to the public are now fair game for immigration agents. These include lobbies, waiting areas, cafeterias, parking lots, and even the vestibules of emergency rooms and acute care sections. Private hospital areas aren’t covered by the directive. They include most healthcare sections, such as nursing and maternity wards, surgical sections, mental health suites, laboratories, employee lounges, and many others.
Unless they have a warrant executed by a federal judge or magistrate, immigration enforcement agents cannot enter the private areas of hospitals. They can approach individuals waiting outside for a loved one to be discharged from the emergency room, but they can’t arrest anyone without a warrant or probable cause. Let’s say ICE agents know about a cafeteria cook who has overstayed his work visa. They cannot approach him in the kitchen even if it’s connected to the dining area of the cafeteria.
Resistance to the New DHS Directive
In January 2025, a medical opinion published by the STAT scientific journal labeled the elimination of sensitive locations “a public health catastrophe waiting to happen.” The opinion was widely read by American medical professionals and administrators who vowed to oppose the new DHS directive.
At hundreds of hospitals across the nation, administrators have instructed staff members to treat the presence of ICE agents as a security emergency. The New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, which governs 11 public hospitals, has trained its security guards to shadow ICE agents, film their actions, and make them feel unwelcome.
If you need the best San Diego immigration lawyer in the event of an immigration visit to a hospital where you or your loved one is being treated, contact KS Visa Law. We handle every aspect of immigration law, from naturalization to family-based immigration. Call us to schedule an appointment with one of our lawyers today.
