A crackdown to detain and deport immigrants living in the country without permission will begin on day one of President-elect Donald Trump’s new administration, sources told the BBC’s US partner CBS.
The operation, threatened by Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan, could begin as early as Tuesday in Chicago, a city with a large immigrant population.
Trump has pledged to oversee the largest deportation program in U.S. history, and Horman has said criminals and gang members will be a priority in such raids.
In an interview with Fox News this week, the border czar promised “massive airstrikes” across the country. he said before Chicago will become ‘ground zero’ for mass deportations.
Trump, a Republican, promised large-scale deportations ahead of his first presidential election in 2017, but ended up removing about half the number of immigrants that President Barack Obama, a Democrat, did during his first four years in office.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agencies deport illegal immigrants all the time.
But the operation, which will begin after Trump’s inauguration on Monday, is expected to target so-called “sanctuary” cities that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities, two sources familiar with the plan told CBS.
According to CBS, ICE officials in the Chicago area recently asked agents to join a planned raid this week without notifying the agency’s head in Washington, D.C.
“On January 21st, you’re going to find a lot of ICE agents in the city looking for criminals and gang members,” Homan told a Republican gathering in Chicago last month. “Be hopeful. It will happen.”
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), citing anonymous sources familiar with the plan, reported that New York, Los Angeles, Denver, and Miami would also be targets of airstrikes.
Worshipers at a church in a predominantly Latino neighborhood of Chicago shared their concerns with the BBC.
“I’m scared, but I can’t imagine how people without documents feel,” said D Camacho, 21, a legal immigrant from Mexico who attended Lincoln United Methodist Church in Pilsen on Sunday. .
“If someone has five children and they are taken away, who is going to take those children? Are they going to go to social services? Are the families going to be torn apart,” said Pastor Emma Lozano.
Under Democratic President Joe Biden’s rules, ICE generally prioritizes apprehending illegal immigrants who are serious criminals, recently crossed the border or pose a threat to national security.
The Trump team has said it will start with immigrants who have committed crimes, but all illegal immigrants, including those who have lived and worked in the U.S. for years and have no criminal records, may be more likely to be arrested and deported.
According to CBS, immigration crackdowns on construction sites where undocumented immigrants are often employed are also expected to be resumed after being suspended by the Biden administration.
However, this task can pose challenges for officials due to limited detention space available to accommodate detainees.
At the same time, the Laken Riley Act, named for a college student killed last year in Georgia by an illegal Venezuelan immigrant arrested on theft charges, is expected to pass Congress next week.
The proposed bill would require the federal government to detain illegal U.S. immigrants suspected of criminal activity.
