Illegal immigrant demonstrators were protesting outside the White House on Monday – but don’t expect America’s immigration officers to intervene.

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement official indicated that even if the protesters end up getting arrested by D.C. police, they’d have to be serious criminals for ICE to get involved.

“Unless the individuals meet ICE’s enforcement priorities, it’s unlikely that the agency would get involved in the case,” the official told FoxNews.com.

Under a policy that’s been in effect for several years, ICE focuses deportation mostly on serious criminals and – in some cases — those caught in the act of crossing the border. The agency prioritizes deportation for felons, repeat offenders, gang members and others with a serious criminal record. But the agency largely gives a pass to other undocumented residents.

This is why illegal immigrant activists can protest outside the White House without worrying too much about ICE.  

They did so at lunchtime on Monday, marching across Lafayette Park to the White House and advocating a reprieve for illegal immigrant parents who brought their children to the U.S. – and whose children have benefited from a separate reprieve issued in 2012 by the Department of Homeland Security.

According to The Washington Times, illegal immigrant protesters also planned to demonstrate outside the White House on Monday afternoon, to call on immigration groups to boycott any administration meetings until illegal immigrants are included in those talks.

July 2, 2014: Young illegal immigrants in housing area on Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.AP

Republican lawmakers are challenging the Obama administration over a newly announced plan to expand the use of U.S. military bases to house illegal immigrant children, warning that it will put a strain on troops and threaten military readiness.

The Pentagon confirmed this week that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has approved a request from the Department of Health and Human Services to house an additional 5,000 minors at DOD facilities.

The announcement has fueled concerns that what was initially described as a short-term measure is becoming an open-ended commitment.

“It’s very evident that this is not a short-term solution,” Donelle Harder, a spokeswoman for Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., told FoxNews.com.

About 2,500 young border crossers currently are being housed in facilities at Fort Sill in Oklahoma, Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, and Naval Base Ventura County in California. Initially cast as a four-month mission, the timeline now has been extended through at least Jan. 31, 2015.

It’s not clear where the additional 5,000 will stay, but the Pentagon is conducting assessments to figure this out. Among the possibilities apparently is Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Ala.

Alabama lawmakers on Thursday revealed the existence of “ongoing talks” between HHS and DOD over using the Maxwell base, though no decision has been made. Alabama GOP Reps. Martha Roby and Mike Rogers wrote a letter to the heads of both departments opposing such a plan and urging them not to go forward. Further, the lawmakers threatened to use the emergency legislation on the border crisis being considered in Congress to block illegal immigrants from being housed at military bases.

“The housing, feeding and caring of immigration detainees would severely compromise the critical mission at Maxwell-Gunter,” they wrote.

The lawmakers echoed their colleagues in arguing that the housing of illegal immigrant children is a strain on military resources.   

“Throughout the year, Maxwell-Gunter hosts thousands of Air Force personnel conducting time-sensitive training essential for our national defense,” they wrote.

Members of the Oklahoma delegation earlier this week voiced similar concerns that the DOD decision to allow another 5,000 illegal immigrant minors on bases would turn Fort Sill into a long-term holding facility.

Rep. Jim Bridenstine, R-Okla., said the request poses a “very real threat to U.S. military readiness,” noting the base is the “primary artillery training center for troops before deployment.”

“Secretary Hagel should not extend or expand the use of Ft. Sill as a UAC camp,” he said in a statement.

Military bases are just one piece of the puzzle as the U.S. government scrambles to address the influx of illegal immigrant minors who are making the dangerous trek from Central America, through Mexico and across the U.S. border. A number of facilities, many of them non-military, have been repurposed by HHS officials to handle hundreds of them at a time, while their cases are processed.

In Washington, the presidents of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador were meeting with President Obama on Friday to discuss the crisis and possible solutions. Obama is seeking additional funding from Congress to address the influx and considering additional policy changes.

But some Republicans say the solution is to swiftly deport those currently being housed at facilities across the country to send a message to Central America that they cannot stay, and to reverse a 2012 policy giving a reprieve to some illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children. Republicans argue that policy has acted as a magnet, even though it does not technically allow any of those who recently crossed to stay in the U.S.  

House Republicans have discussed mandating changes to that policy as part of the emergency spending bill being considered on the Hill. Obama wants $3.7 billion to help with the crisis, but Republicans are proposing a much lower figure.

On the Senate side, Inhofe and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, have introduced legislation blocking the administration from using taxpayer funds to expand the 2012 policy.

Fox News’ Justin Fishel contributed to this report.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) – More than 400 immigrant children have been placed with sponsors in Alabama, according to federal figures released Thursday, and more could be coming with officials saying Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery is being considered for housing.

A division of the Department of Health and Human Service said 407 children were placed with sponsors in Alabama between the start of the year and July 7. The announcement did not indicate which counties have the most children.

The number of immigrant children in Alabama is less than in three neighboring states. The Office of Refugee Resettlement reported 760 in Tennessee, 1,154 in Georgia and 3,181 in Florida. That’s out of more than 30,000 placements nationwide.

And the Federal Emergency Management Agency notified Gov. Robert Bentley’s office late Wednesday afternoon that Maxwell is under consideration for housing immigrant children, communications director Jennifer Ardis said Thursday.

A spokesman for the secretary of defense, Lt. Col. Thomas Crosson, confirmed Maxwell is among the bases under consideration, and it is the only one from Alabama.

He said the Department of Health and Human Services has to assess whether the base could house children, and that hasn’t been scheduled yet. He said the federal agency is looking not only for space for housing, but for meals, medical care, recreation and counseling.

“Just because we offer them the facility does not mean they are going to use it,” he said.

Crosson said three bases are already being used: Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas; Fort Still Army Base in Oklahoma; and Naval Base Ventura in Oxnard, California.

If Maxwell is approved, state officials don’t know how many children might be transported there or when they might arrive, Ardis said. She said the state has no role since Maxwell is a federal facility, but she said Bentley joined five other governors in sending a letter to President Barack Obama on Tuesday expressing concerns about immigrant children being housed in their states.

“We are concerned that there will be significant numbers who will end up using the public schools, social services and health systems largely funded by the states. More importantly, we are concerned that the failure to return the unaccompanied children will send a message that will encourage a much larger movement towards our southern border,” the letter said.

Joining Alabama’s governor in sending the letter were the governors of Wisconsin, Kansas, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Utah.

Two members of Congress who represent the Montgomery area, Republicans Martha Roby and Mike Rogers, said Thursday they are opposed to the Air Force base being used for housing because that could compromise the base’s official mission.

Rogers said the Obama administration had looked earlier at the Center for Domestic Preparedness in Anniston, but that also drew opposition.