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Office for Refugees and Immigrants outlines limits of enforcement, schools' rights and travel risks
Summary
Susan Church of the Office for Refugees and Immigrants described how ICE, CBP and USCIS differ, explained when agents can search or arrest, clarified judicial versus administrative warrants, and urged families and schools in Massachusetts to consult legal resources.
Susan Church, an attorney with the Office for Refugees and Immigrants, told attendees during a presentation that federal immigration enforcement is concentrated and limited and urged people with immigration questions to seek legal advice.
Church said immigration enforcement is carried out by multiple federal agencies with different missions: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and its investigative arm Homeland Security Investigations, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and its Border Patrol, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which she described as a benefits agency. “We are constantly getting calls ... telling us basically that ICE is everywhere all the time, and it's simply not true,” Church said, adding that enforcement is typically targeted rather than nationwide sweeps.
The presentation highlighted where and how agencies can act. Church noted that CBP has broad authority within 100 miles of the border — including states such as Massachusetts — and that CBP officers may inspect phones, emails and laptops at the border.…
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