Donald Trump’s top border official has announced that the new Republican administration will begin implementing large-scale operations to detain and deport undocumented immigrants starting on the day of the President-elect’s inauguration on Tuesday.
The incoming administration’s “border czar”, Tom Homan, stated in an interview with Fox News that these actions should not be termed as “raids”. Instead, he described them as targeted enforcement operations, with Chicago being one of the cities slated to see such operations shortly after Trump’s second term commences.
Homan also mentioned that the administration plans to target city jails in sanctuary cities where a significant number of migrants are housed. The aim is to apprehend individuals with criminal backgrounds in a secure environment such as a county jail.
Former acting director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homan, emphasized the agency’s meticulous planning for these operations, ensuring that they have identified the appropriate locations to target.
While reports suggest that Chicago could face the brunt of these enforcement actions as early as Tuesday, along with potential targets in New York and Miami, Homan refrained from providing specific details on the timing or scope of the operation.
Homan’s recent statements follow his declaration that ICE will have more freedom to arrest criminal aliens, indicating a forthcoming large-scale operation across the country.
During his second presidential campaign, Trump has promised to crack down on undocumented immigrants, though there are disagreements within the Republican party on certain issues, such as H-1B visas.
Trump has vowed to initiate the largest domestic deportation operation in American history without specifying the exact number of individuals who will be affected. Additionally, he plans to reintroduce measures to have asylum seekers wait in Mexico for their hearings, reinstate the travel ban on Muslim-majority countries, and end birthright citizenship for certain noncitizen children born in the US.
Furthermore, Trump’s administration is exploring ways to cut off funding for sanctuary cities that refuse to cooperate with deportation efforts, despite objections from local authorities citing resource constraints and concerns about the impact on communities.
In anticipation of the crackdown promised by the incoming administration, immigrant rights groups are preparing for potential deportations, with reports indicating instances of self-deportations among individuals unwilling to wait for forced removal by Trump’s administration.
Meanwhile, a rally took place in Washington, DC, on Saturday to protest Trump’s inauguration, with activists voicing concerns about the perceived threats to constitutional rights during the President’s second term. Participants wore pink hats reminiscent of the 2017 protest against Trump’s initial inauguration as they marched through downtown towards the Lincoln Memorial for the “People’s March.”
While protests against Trump’s inauguration this time around may be smaller, some activists attribute this to a perceived fragmentation within the women’s rights movement following the November defeat of Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.
