Immigrants wary as mass roundups fail to materialize
Few reports of ICE activity, despite Trump’s threats
The nationwide immigration raids that President Donald Trump said would begin Sunday didn’t materialize on the streets of major U.S. cities, even as his statement cast a cloud of fear that kept many families indoors. Immigration enforcement authorities said their plans to track down migrants with deportation orders would continue, but their actions over the weekend appeared more akin to routine actions rather than the mass roundups the president promised.
Immigrants and advocates had been bracing for the arrests, which Trump last warned of Friday, saying he wanted agents “to take people out and take them back to their countries.” But law enforcement officials said they worried that the unusual public disclosure of the plan endangered officers and threatened their effectiveness.
Trump has vowed repeatedly to deport “millions” of people who are in the United States illegally, and the long-planned blitz aims to target families who entered the country recently and have received deportation orders. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has for years regularly arrests and removes immigrations who a judge has deemed should be deported after court hearings.
Acting ICE Director Matthew Albence declined to confirm whether a widespread operation was underway Sunday.
“There’s not anything I’m going to say that would jeopardize my officers,” Albence said. “Operationally, we’ll never divulge details that would put our officers at any more risk than they already face in this toxic environment.”
In New York, Houston, Los Angeles and several other cities that are to be targeted under the Trump administration’s “family op,” community organizers and lawyers responded to Trump’s declarations with seminars about rights, handing out informational fliers, as well as affidavits to declare emergency guardianship for children, should they be separated from their families. Houses of worship have offered their buildings as sanctuaries, and activists have volunteered to stand watch.
But there were few signs that ICE was out in force, with a spattering of reports of ICE activity.
“All quiet in Houston,” Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said Sunday. “I expect ICE will conduct routine removal operations during the week.”
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Friday terminated ICE’s access to Chicago Police Department databases. Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said his department would not cooperate.
New York officials said Saturday night that ICE agents were seen conducting “enforcement operations” in two neighborhoods but that no arrests were made after residents refused to answer doors. It was unclear whether the agents were acting as part of the larger operation.
Like most law enforcement agencies, ICE officials treat their actions as closely guarded secrets, and they rely on the element of surprise to make arrests. Telegraphing planned roundups, while potentially a deterrent to migrants thinking about coming to the United States, also allows those who might be targeted to flee or hide.
John Sandweg, who served as ICE acting director under President Barack Obama, said he thinks ICE will likely wait for attention to die down before going forward with the plan.
Albence said Sunday that the operation — whether or not it was underway — is under ICE direction and was not being guided by the White House.