TEHRAN, Jul 12 - U.S. authorities on Sunday will begin arresting at least 2,000 immigrant families eligible for deportation in a nationwide series of raids long threatened by President Donald Trump, the New York Times reported, citing former and current officials.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - Trump forewarned of the planned operation in a June 17 Twitter message, but it was delayed partly because of disagreements within the administration, the Times reported on Thursday.
Immigrant advocates said the advance word of the raids could enable at least some of those targeted to evade arrest.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said in a statement it would not offer specific details related to any upcoming enforcement operations but that “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.”
The operation would target some 2,000 families whose immigration cases had been expedited in a special court docket and resulted in deportation orders, the Times said.
By comparison, ICE typically detains about 12,000 people per month, not including Border Patrol arrests near the border.
“Two thousand people deported is not that large in the annual scheme of things,” said Stephen Yale-Loehr, a Cornell Law School professor specializing in immigration, pointing out that the administration of former President Barack Obama deported more than 400,000 people a year during his first term.
“On the other hand the mere fact that they are announcing these raids is sending fear among immigrants and is causing them to hide or take other actions,” he said.
Facing a re-election battle next year, Trump will want to show his supporters that he is delivering on campaign promises to crack down on illegal immigration, a signature policy objective of his administration.
Source: Reuters
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