On Tuesday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials apprehended 308 migrants across the country.
The New Daily Prime earlier reported that President Donald Trump, in the early stages of his 2024 presidential campaign, promised to focus on reducing legal migration and deporting individuals living in the U.S. without legal status.
During his inauguration on Monday, Trump signed several executive actions related to border policy.
Some of the orders include “realigning” the Refugee Admission Programme, designating cartels as foreign terrorist organisations, declaring a national emergency at the southern border, and ending the automatic citizenship of children born in the U.S. to parents without legal status.
This newspaper learned that just a day after President Trump was inaugurated, ICE conducted its first raid, arresting several migrants in their homes and on the streets, as well as taking individuals from local jails.
This newspaper earlier reported that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, announced that immigration authorities can now enter schools, healthcare facilities and places of worship to conduct arrests.
Additionally, agency field offices that were able to send officers out were instructed to do so.
Some of the migrants who were detained had final orders of removal, while others taken from jails had been arrested for serious crimes, including murder and sexual assault, some involving minors.
Officials confirmed that no minors were arrested during the raids. The detained migrants will now enter custody under enforcement removal operations until they are deported or until another ruling is made by an immigration court.
They will be held in an ICE detention facility near the locations of their arrests or be transported to facilities in other jurisdictions.
However, President Trump’s Nation’s Borders (The Border Czar) expressed satisfaction with the arrests.
During an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, Tom Homan, former ICE Director, and stalwart on Border Control stated that they are focusing on public safety threats and national security concerns, which he categorised as the most urgent matters.
Homan clarified that the arrests were not random raids, as officials were aware of whom they wanted to arrest and their locations.
Homan praised ICE for its actions, saying, “They’re going to continue every day.”
In the aftermath of the arrests, many migrants across the country began to avoid work and public places due to fears of mass deportation raids initiated by Mr Trump.
This newspaper earlier reported that the President put on immediate paid administrative leave all US government staff working on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) schemes.
In California, for instance, Central Valley farmworkers failed to show up for work, causing a significant slowdown in the state’s citrus harvest.
Additionally, union officers from the United Farm Workers, a labour union that advocates for migrant farmworkers, received bulletins urging them to “report illegal aliens at schools, at work, at church, at restaurants, and in your neighbourhood. There is nowhere to hide.”
Meanwhile, federal agencies are taking significant steps to enforce Trump’s agenda.
On Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security announced that ICE agents would be permitted to arrest undocumented individuals at or near places of worship, schools, and hospitals.
Additionally, the Department of Justice has instructed federal prosecutors to investigate and potentially charge state and local officials who do not comply with federal immigration laws.
U.S. mayors, including New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, have stated that their cities’ police departments will not prioritize carrying out immigration raids.
