Donald Trump has signed an executive order allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to make arrests at church services.

Previously, ICE officers were limited when making an arrest for “expeditive removal” at a "sensitive location" – which includes places of worship and schools.

The change was issued by Benjamine Huffman, the acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, as one of two directives.

It means that an undocumented person who can’t prove they have been in the US continuously for more than two years can be deported.

The Department for Homeland Security said: “Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest. The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense.”

Rev Mindy Bell, an American-British pastor living in the UK, told Premier Christian Radio church leaders need to act with wisdom and compassion, as executive orders roll in.

“We're neighbours,” she said. “We're kin in Scripture, we're sisters and brothers and siblings.”

At an interfaith service this week, the Bishop of Washington implored Trump to “have mercy” on immigrants. She has since faced death threats online, after Trump hit back by saying Bishop Edgar Budde is “not good at her job” and a “leftist”.

Rev Bell told Premier: “Bishop Budde was a pastor worried about her flock. She was reminding the President that he has immense power in the position he was inaugurated into the day before, and to use it wisely, and to not forget that human lives are affected by policy decisions.”