The Federal government this weekend is planning immigration “raids” to arrest individuals who have criminal records and entered the country illegally. In addition, those who have overstayed their visas in violation of US immigration laws will also be targeted.
Trump administration officials said the action, in fulfillment of laws already on the books, will begin Sunday.
That report comes from the New York Times which cited two current Homeland Security officials and joined others in labeling them “raids.”
Last Friday, President Trump renewed his call for officials to enforce the law. The raids were postponed in June after the president previewed the operations on Twitter, stating ICE would remove “millions of illegal aliens.”
While some outlets have termed them “raids,” acting Customs and Border Protection commissioner Mark Morgan disputed the term in an interview with CBS News last month, instead labeling the action “interior enforcement.”
“If you are a mother with a kid, is that mother going to be handcuffed? No, she doesn’t need to be handcuffed,” Morgan added. “But if you are a criminal alien and you’ve been convicted of murder, sexual assault, and et cetera, are you going to handcuffed? You bet ya, you are going to be handcuffed.”
The officials, quoted by the New York Times said immigration agents were targeting at least 2,000 immigrants who have been ordered deported by a US court, some because they didn’t appear in court but are still in the US illegally.
Agents are expected to target at least 10 major cities.
That story comes as a new poll shows that 51 percent of American voters would support the mass deportations of the up to 22 million illegal aliens believed to be living in the United States, if Congress fails to close loopholes in the asylum system.
The Harvard/Harris Poll found that 8-in-10 Republican voters and 5-in-10 swing voters said President Trump should carry out mass deportation if Congress doesn’t act.
The poll found that Democrats and voters who supported Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election were less likely to approve of deportations.
Last week, as conditions at the border deteriorated, Democrat congressional leaders finally orchestrated a vote for additional humanitarian aid that the Trump administration had been denied for several months. The measure passed in both houses and was sent to President Trump for his signature.
–Metro Voice