US won't make immigration arrests at COVID-19 vaccination sites

President Biden signs executive orders on immigration

President Joe Biden signed executive orders Tuesday to address family separation at the U.S.-Mexico border, border security and legal immigration, expanding efforts to quickly undo changes to immigration policy over the last four years.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. government says it won’t be making routine immigration enforcement arrests at COVID-19 vaccination sites.

Vaccination sites will be considered "sensitive locations" and generally off limits for enforcement actions, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement Monday.

It says arrests would only be carried out under "the most extraordinary of circumstances."

It was the latest example of a softer tone on illegal immigration under President Joe Biden, whose administration has quickly moved to reverse major immigration policies of his predecessor.

In its statement, DHS said it encourages everyone "regardless of immigration status" to receive the vaccine when they are eligible and that the agency and its federal partners "fully support equal access to the COVID-19 vaccines and vaccine distribution sites for undocumented immigrants."

Care home staff receive the Pfizer/BioNtech covid-19 vaccine at Bradley Manor residential care home in Belfast. (Photo by Liam McBurney/PA Images via Getty Images)

DHS also oversees the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is working with other parts of the federal government to set up vaccination sites around the country.

The U.S. government previously considered health clinics as well as schools and places of worship as sensitive locations where it would generally not carry out enforcement actions. Over the years, that prompted some people to take refuge in churches to avoid deportation.