U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials announced Wednesday that the agency will be scaling back its enforcement actions amid the coronavirus pandemic, focusing its efforts on arresting people who pose a risk to public safety or have certain criminal convictions.
In a statement, ICE said its "highest priorities are to promote life-saving and public safety activities," and the move will "ensure the welfare and safety of the general public as well as officers and agents."
Immigrant advocates had been calling on the Department of Homeland Security to postpone enforcement operations during the coronavirus pandemic, the Los Angeles Times reports. After ICE carried out arrests in Los Angeles on Monday, Mayor Eric Garcetti said "additional fear at a moment of extreme fear is the last thing that families need to face."
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