Biden administration unveils new limits on immigration arrests and deportations

The Biden administration on Thursday published new rules governing immigration arrests across the country, directing U.S. officials to focus on detaining and deporting immigrants determined to pose a threat to national security or public safety, as well as migrants who recently crossed the southern border.

In a long-awaited memo, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas outlined a dramatic shift in U.S. immigration enforcement policy that will likely spare most undocumented immigrants who have lived in the U.S. for years from arrest and deportation, as long as they don't commit serious crimes.

"The majority of undocumented non-citizens who could be subject to removal, the majority of the more than 11 million people, have been contributing members of our communities for years," Mayorkas told reporters. "They include individuals who work on the frontlines in the battle against COVID, teachers, individuals who teach our children, who do the back-breaking farmwork that puts food on our table, who lead our congregations of faith and contribute to our communities in meaningful other ways."