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Ken Cuccinelli, acting director of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), remained silent on Sunday over the national immigration raids that began Saturday night.
Speaking about CNN's "State of the Union", Cuccinelli said he would not discuss details of the operation of the raids in order to protect the agents of the ICE of any danger and did not guarantee that families would not be separated during raids.
"In the same way, I was not willing to talk about the details of the operation … I will not comment on it," he said. "One million people, including families, have been the subject of a removal order."
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CNN's Jake Tapper told Cuccinelli that it was "operational" to ensure that ICE would not separate families.
"I'm not going to say yes or no to anything like that, because some people will be able to pretend to be … or play a loophole," said Cuccinelli.
Cuccinelli also did not confirm that the raids had begun, even though a top administration official had already told Fox News that the crackdown had started late Saturday night.
ICE resumed its previously announced plan to apprehend thousands of undocumented immigrants who had been ordered to leave the country, targeting people living in at least 10 cities. The ICE raids began late Saturday and early Sunday morning in "a number of jurisdictions", not just in New York, confirmed a senior administration official at Fox News.
Cuccinelli said that the main objective of the raid was to apprehend violent criminals, but that "it will not be the exclusive limit of any operation".
One group that will not be targeted in raids, however, is that of migrant families evacuating due to Tropical Storm Barry.
The US Department of Homeland Security said in a press release Thursday night that he wished residents of the Gulf Coast would stay safe during the storm.
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US authorities have indicated that the US Immigration and Customs and US Customs and Border Protection services would not conduct immigration operations in locations where evacuations or shelters were in progress, unless there was a "serious threat to public safety".
Immigrant communities are overexpressed since the administration of President Donald Trump announced plans for the operation, which inflamed the political debate on immigration. The American Civil Liberties Union on Thursday initiated a preventive trial to protect asylum seekers. Activists organized protests and advocates urged immigrants to defend their rights.
Officials said the coordinated action would target about 2,000 people being ordered deported to major cities including Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Miami.
Fox News Travis Fedschun and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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