Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deports illegal immigrants all the time. However, the operation, which she will launch after Trump’s inauguration on Monday, is expected to target so-called sanctuary cities, which have limited cooperation with federal immigration officials.
Along with Chicago, New York and Los Angeles are among dozens of US cities that have adopted “sanctuary” policies.
“On January 21st, you’re going to be looking for a lot of ICE agents in your city looking for criminals and gang members,” Homan said at a Republican convention in Chicago last month. “Count on it. It’s going to happen.”
New York, Los Angeles, Denver and Miami are also to be targets of the raids, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed sources familiar with the plans.
Under Democratic President Joe Biden, ICE typically prioritized arresting illegal immigrants who were serious criminals, had recently crossed the border or posed a threat to national security.
While the Trump team has made it clear that it will start with immigrants who have committed crimes, all illegal immigrants — including those who have lived and worked in the U.S. for years and have no criminal history — are more likely to be arrested and deported.
Immigration raids on construction sites where undocumented migrants often work are expected to resume after being halted by the Biden administration, according to CBS News, the BBC’s US partner.
Ahead of an expected tightening of U.S. policy, a growing number of migrant farm workers are seeking advice on dealing with immigration officials and appointing temporary guardians for their children.
“The administration is not yet sworn in, but people are already afraid,” Sarait Martinez, executive director of Centro Binacional para el Desarrollo Indígena Oaxaqueño, which supports Mexican farm workers in California, told Reuters.
As well as promising to deport millions of illegal migrants and threatening workplace raids, some Reports indicate that Trump may also abandon a longstanding policy that barred visits to churches for ICE arrests, external.
However, the upcoming raids could create significant difficulties for officials – with limited places to hold detainees.
Meanwhile, the Laken Riley Act — named after a college student who was killed last year in Georgia by a Venezuelan man previously arrested for shoplifting — is expected to be passed by US lawmakers next week.
The proposed law would require the federal government to detain migrants who are in the U.S. illegally and who are suspected of criminal activity — even if they are not charged with any crime.
