President Trump has directed ICE to start rounding up illegal immigrants who have worked the system and missed court dates or who have been issued final deportation orders.
The left won’t like this but Obama was very tough on illegal immigration when he faced a crisis and President Trump is simply doing what must be done, given the constraints of the law and the inaction of the Democrats.
The Miami Herald reported that Miami will be one of the first cities where immigration authorities will target people for deportation as early as Sunday, according to sources who were briefed on the enforcement action.
Immigration agents will target Miami, Atlanta, Chicago, Baltimore, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York City, and San Francisco starting this weekend, sources from congressional offices and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement told the Miami Herald.
As sources sat, the first groups of people that will be targeted are minors who came into the U.S. without their parents and have since turned 18; people who were ordered removed in absentia; and people who missed a court hearing and did not respond to letters mailed to their homes by the Department of Justice.
Families on the so-called rocket docket, a slate of cases fast-tracked for deportation by the Justice Department will also be targetet.
Two ICE briefings were held this week, one on Wednesday, led by ICE Deputy Director Matthew T. Albence, the other on Thursday by Henry Lucero, field office director for the agency’s Enforcement and Removal Operations in Phoenix.
The Hill also reported that the President has directed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to begin rounding up immigrant families who have received deportation orders starting this Sunday, three U.S. officials with knowledge of the plan told The Washington Post.
The operation will kick off with predawn raids, and is expected to target up to 2,000 families facing deportation orders in up to 10 cities, including Houston, Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles and other cities with high numbers of illegal immigrants.
Due to law-enforcement sensitivities and the safety and security of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel, the agency will not offer more specific details related to enforcement operations before the conclusion of those actions. As always, ICE prioritizes the arrest and removal of unlawfully present aliens who have received criminal convictions; have pending criminal charges; are determined to be a national security or public safety threat; or are an immigration fugitive,” ICE spokesperson Matthew Bourke said in a statement to The Hill.
“In fact, nearly 90 percent of aliens arrested by ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations component in FY2018 had received criminal convictions or had pending criminal charges. However, as the agency has made clear, ICE will no longer exempt classes or categories of removable aliens from potential enforcement. All of those in violation of the immigration laws may be subject to immigration arrest, detention and — if found removable by final order — removal from the United States.”
