President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to launch a major immigration raid in Chicago next week are under review after details of the operation were leaked to the press, incoming border czar Tom Homan has said.
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Reports of a major immigration raid in Chicago suggest Trump’s key 2024 campaign pledge to launch the largest mass deportation of undocumented immigrants could begin immediately after he returns to office.
Federal immigration agents are believed to have planned a large-scale raid targeting about three hundred more people in Chicago, the Associated Press reported Saturday, citing anonymous sources.
The New York Times reported the raids were planned to begin Tuesday, one day after Trump’s inauguration, and continue until the following Monday. According to the Wall Street Journal, U.S. ICE planned to deploy between 100 and 200 officers to carry out the operation.
The focus was on undocumented immigrants with criminal backgrounds. Some of those reportedly targeted have minor offenses, such as driving violations, which the outgoing Biden administration did not pursue.
Homan, former acting director of US ICE, told ABC News that the new management is currently “studying” continuing the operation in Chicago after the leak.
A US ICE spokesperson told Newsweek that any data “relating to activities possibly taking place after the inauguration” will be sent to the new administration.
Trump hinted at those plans in an earlier interview with ABC News, describing the raids as a “priority” for his new administration.
Chicago is one of several so-called sanctuary cities in the United States that restrict or deny cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Government officials in those cities, including Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, have pledged to challenge Trump’s mass deportation plans.
Tom Homan, incoming border czar, said to ABC News on Saturday: “We’re reviewing any plans in Chicago because of the leak. When the president gets sworn in, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are going to have a new priority of seeking out those who are considered a public safety threat and a national security threat.”
President-elect Donald Trump said to ABC News: “It’s a priority that we get the criminals out of our country. And it is for everybody else—it’s one of the reasons I won the election by such a big margin. And it is a priority.”
Brandon Lee, a spokesman for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, told the AP, “The truth is, I think there’s been some point of concern since Election Day. We act as if Trump is going to target Chicago and Illinois. at the beginning of his administration.
The Chicago Police Department said in a message to ABC 7: “The Chicago Police Department enforces the City of Chicago Municipal Code, which includes the Welcoming City Ordinance. CPD does not document immigration status and, according to the order, does not document percentage data with federal immigration authorities. We will not interfere with or interfere with other government agencies in the exercise of their functions.
Trump will be sworn in as president on Monday, January 20. It remains unclear whether the mass immigration raids will proceed in Chicago or any other U.S. city early next week.
Ewan Palmer is a journalist at Newsweek News in London, United Kingdom. It focuses on American politics, domestic politics, and the courts. He joined Newsweek in February 2018 after spending several years working at the International Business Times UK, where he reported primarily on crime, politics and current affairs. Before that, he worked as a freelance editor after graduating from the University of Sunderland in 2010. Languages: English. Email: e. palmer@newsweek. com.