US Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans to begin the previously postponed raids across the country Sunday to arrest thousands of migrant families who already have court orders to be removed, according to a US official.
What We Know:
- The New York Times reported that they are expected to take place in at least 10 cities, will occur “over multiple days” and will include “collateral” deportations in which “authorities might detain immigrants who happened to be on the scene, even though they were not targets of the raids.”
- Wednesday, acting US Citizenship and Immigration Services director Ken Cuccinelli said the ICE raids are ‘absolutely going to happen’ following a delay from the President to see if Congress could work out a legislative solution on immigration.
“They’re absolutely going to happen. There’s approximately a million people in this country with removal orders. And of course that isn’t what ICE will go after in this, but that’s the pool of people who have been all the way through the due process chain,” he told reporters at the White House.
- Previously, ICE had planned to arrest and deport families with court-ordered removals in 10 cities in late June, according to a senior immigration official. The raids were expected in Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York and San Francisco.
- The city of New Orleans said on Twitter that it confirmed with ICE that “immigration enforcement will be temporarily suspended through the weekend” in areas of Louisiana and Mississippi impacted by tropical storm Barry.
- When possible, family members who are arrested together will be held in family detention centers in Texas and Pennsylvania. But because of space limitations, some might end up staying in hotel rooms until their travel documents can be prepared. ICE’s goal is to deport the families as quickly as possible.
- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reiterated her call Thursday for evangelicals to step in and urge the President not to carry out ICE raids on Sunday. The Speaker says “this brutal action will terrorize children and tear families apart.” Pelosi spoke with Trump by phone to urge him not to go through with the planned actions. She also credited faith-based organizations with reaching out to Trump and influencing him.
This story is developing and will be updated here.
