The Department of Homeland Security cited violence against immigration agents to accelerate its crackdown on disorderly conduct outside of federal property, a move that could spark more incidents between protesters and officers.
A federal rule going into effect Wednesday allows the department to pursue criminal charges against people for intimidation, impeding official duties, camping outside of federal property and using masks or disguises when breaking laws or regulations. The rule applies to behavior in federal property or outside of it.
The rule was set to go into effect in January. But DHS announced on Tuesday that it would go into effect the following day instead. In its explanation, the department pointed to the September shooting at a Dallas Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office that killed two detainees.