Trump says the ice raids will begin Sunday, focusing on the purge of criminal immigrants



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In April 2018, US immigration and customs enforcement officers prepare for morning raids to stop undocumented migrants in New York. President Trump said that a raid of the immigration forces is scheduled for this weekend. (John Moore / Getty Images)

President Trump announced on Friday that immigration authorities were planning to carry out mass arrests of migrants on Sunday, an announcement made after weeks of uncertainty and unrest in his government following the announcement. the use of aggressive tactics to reduce levels of migration at the US-Mexican border.

Trump and the officials of the administration Previously, Immigration and Customs Enforcement planned to launch an operation targeting thousands of migrant families who had been issued a final deportation order. This carefully coordinated initiative was to target up to 10 cities across the country. While it was unclear whether Trump was referring to the planned family operation or another wave of ice law enforcement, a former Department of Homeland Security official who knew the operation said that the raids will target approximately 2,000 families in 10 cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston.

"It starts on Sunday, and they will get people out and bring them back to their countries, where they will take criminals and put them in jail or put them in jail in the countries they came from," Trump said. told reporters in Washington as he boarded Marine One. "We are particularly looking for bad players, but we are also looking for people who have entered our country without going through a process, they just crossed a line and have to leave."

Officials from the Department of Homeland Security, ICE and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for clarification of the president's statements. ICE officials have stated that they do not discuss public order maintenance operations before they happen – the secret is a key element – and they noted that they regularly led waves of law enforcement as part of their overall mission.

The former DHS official said the targets of the raids are families with a removal order "who have not honored the orders". The government considers it a crime not to voluntarily leave the country within 90 days of a removal order.

On June 22, President Trump spoke with reporters outside the White House about the US immigration enforcement and customs enforcement of a rally migrant families with deportation measures. (The Washington Post)

Trump, on June 17, briefed ICE's "op family" plan by tweeting about it a few days before starting. But he suspended the plan the same week after the outcry from Democrats, immigration advocates and members of his administration who warned that the security of immigration authorities and the success of their mission could be compromised if the transaction had been disclosed publicly.

The president warned that the massive arrests – which he saw as a potential deterrent for migrants – would be on the table again if the Democrats and Republicans could not agree on amending the laws on corruption. immigration from the country. Trump warned again last week that the raids would take place "soon enough".

A senior administration official said this month that the president had been informed of the latest operation but did not know the details.

"ICE officers work daily with an ongoing commitment to uphold our country's immigration laws and eliminate criminals from our country," said Thomas R. Decker, director of operations at the ICE. Field and referral operations in New York, said last week after ICE had helped US marshals in the extradition of a German man wanted for rape. ICE also announced last week that it deported 37 Cambodian nationals.

DHS and Justice Department officials planned a family operation in late 2018, mainly to deter Central American parents from taking their children to the US border in hopes of being released into the country. while waiting for the hearings.

The authorities have drawn up a targeted list of families who have received a final deportation order, with thousands of names in a dozen major cities. CIE officials expect that they will only be able to hold 10 to 20 percent of their targets – much less than the "millions" that the president has said he expects to expel. They also expect to arrest other undocumented immigrants and criminals they met during their search, known as "collateral" arrests.

The raids, as well as the tightening of immigration regulations in Mexico and the US program to return asylum seekers to Mexico to wait for their immigration hearings, are part of the program. a plan to reduce the number of border crossings. These crossings at the southern border dropped by 28% from May to June, which is more than a typical summer fall. US officials said this week that it was difficult to determine the extent of the decline attributable to these policies and that it would take months to determine if they had any effect.

US Customs and Border Protection officials said this week that border patrol agents have arrested more than 57,000 people who crossed the border with their families in June – down from May but still more than six times the number of families apprehended in June 2018.

Immigration advocates have warned that mass arrests against families would invariably result in the separation of some children from their parents, many immigrant families including both US citizens and people illegally in the country.

"The upcoming ICE raids are another frantic attempt to separate the family, a futile and inhuman policy designed to prevent immigrants and asylum seekers from seeking refuge in the United States. Trump officials are clear in their intentions to use raids to terrorize families, "said Emma Einhorn, MoveOn.org's campaign director, in a statement Friday.

Democrats in the House criticized Trump's crackdown, saying families were fleeing violence, hunger and poverty in Central America and seeking refuge in the United States. The Trump administration has retaliated, claiming that Congress should remove the "loopholes" in asylum that fuel the rise of the border. The White House wants Congress to pass laws that would give authorities more flexibility to deport unaccompanied minors and asylum-seeking families. Most of them are quickly released while waiting for a hearing, due to federal laws and court decisions limiting the time that the government can keep in custody.

Trump's threats of arrest by migrant families have left many people afraid to go to work, school or even grocery shopping.

Volunteers band together to protect them by setting up phone lines to watch the arrests and help them later, explaining their legal rights and protecting them from arrest by hiding them at home or in sanctuaries of church.

Five immigration legal services organizations on Thursday launched federal court proceedings in the South District of New York, urging a judge to guarantee immigrants the opportunity to try to cancel their orders. expulsion before they were taken on planes to countries where they fled.

The Trump administration said about 90 percent of the migrants on its list did not show up at immigration court hearings. But the American Civil Liberties Union, which is part of several organizations representing non-profit organizations, said many did not appear "because of massive bureaucratic mistakes and in some cases, deliberate mistakes on the part of immigration control agencies, making it impossible to know when their hearings are taking place.

Some court notices were sent late, to incorrect addresses or after the end of hearings. Some were sent for court dates that did not exist.

Non-profit groups have reportedly filed lawsuits to protect unaccompanied families and minors who have fled widespread violence and "murderous gangs" in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and others. country.

"The Trump Administration's plan to arrest and deport thousands of families and children in Central America without giving them a day of justice is both illegal and immoral," said Ahilan Arulanantham, senior counsel at the ACLU of Southern California. "More than 100 years ago, the Supreme Court ruled that immigrants could not be deported without due process. These vulnerable refugees deserve this basic protection. "

Nick Miroff contributed to this report.

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