Raids to detain and deport migrants living in the US without permission are set to begin on the first full day of President-elect Donald Trump’s new administration, sources have told the BBC’s US partner CBS.
The operations, threatened by Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan, could begin in Chicago, a city with a large immigrant population, as early as Tuesday.
Trump has pledged to oversee the largest deportation program in US history, and Homan said criminals and gang members would be given priority in such raids.
In an interview with Fox News this week, the border czar promised a “big raid” across the country. He said previously Chicago will be ground zero for mass deportations.
Homan expanded on the administration’s plans on Fox News on Saturday, saying the deportations would not be “raids,” but rather “targeted enforcement operations.”
He described these efforts as “well planned.”
“When ICE gets out, they’ll know exactly who to look for and where to find them,” Homan said.
He said he expects deportation flights will depart the first week of Trump’s presidency, and expects daily lawsuits for deportation efforts from organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union.
“I’m sure we’ll be sued, but bring it,” he added.
Trump, a Republican, also promised mass deportations before his first term in 2017, though he ended up deporting about half the number of immigrants that President Barack Obama, a Democrat, did in his first four years.
The 47th president will take office with broad support for his border policies. A poll conducted by The New York Times and Ipsos published on Saturday showed that 55% of Americans strongly or somewhat support these mass deportations.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deports illegal immigrants all the time.
However, the operation that will begin after Trump’s inauguration on Monday is expected to target so-called “sanctuary” cities that limit cooperation with federal immigration officials, two sources familiar with the plans told CBS.
According to CBS, ICE officials in the Chicago area recently asked agents to join raids planned for this week without notifying the agency’s bosses in Washington, D.C.
New York, Los Angeles, Denver and Miami are also scheduled to be targeted for raids, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed sources familiar with the plans.
In a church in a predominantly Latino neighborhood in Chicago, worshipers expressed their concerns to the BBC.
“I’m afraid, but I can’t imagine what undocumented people feel,” said De Camacho, a 21-year-old legal immigrant from Mexico who was a worshiper at Lincoln United Methodist Church in the Pilsen area last Sunday. .
“If someone with five children is taken away, who will take the children in? Will they go to social services? Will the family be divided?” said Pastor Emma Lozano.
The rules under Democratic President Joe Biden were that ICE generally prioritized detaining illegal immigrants who were serious criminals, had recently crossed the border or posed a threat to national security.
While the Trump team has indicated that it will start with immigrants who have committed crimes, all undocumented immigrants — including those who have lived and worked in the United States for many years and have no criminal record — may be more vulnerable to arrest and deportation.
Immigration raids on construction sites where illegal immigrants often work are also expected to resume, after the Biden administration halted them, according to CBS.
However, the process may pose difficulties for officials – with limited detention space allocated to hold detainees.
Meanwhile, Congress is expected next week to approve the Laken-Riley Act — named after a college student killed last year in Georgia by an illegal Venezuelan immigrant who had previously been arrested for shoplifting.
The proposed legislation would require the federal government to detain immigrants living in the United States illegally and who are suspected of criminal activity.
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