Trump says deportation raids on hold for 2 weeks
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump says he is delaying a nationwide sweep to deport people living in the U.S. illegally.
Hours after defending the raids planned for Sunday in Houston and other major cities, he said in a tweet Saturday he would delay them for two weeks to give lawmakers time to discuss border solutions.
“If not, Deportations start!” he warned.
Three administration officials said the operation had been canceled because details had leaked in the media and officer safety could be jeopardized. The officials were not authorized to speak publicly on the operation and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The operation would have targeted people with final orders of removal, including 2,000 families whose immigration cases had been fast-tracked by judges.
Trump earlier this week tweeted that an operation was upcoming and said the
agency would begin to remove “millions” of people.
He anticipated that “some cities are going to fight it,” but claimed that the resistance was from sanctuary cities, which, along with some states, have policies aimed at protecting undocumented immigrants from deportation.
The reports that ICE planned to conduct large-scale enforcement actions have prompted pushback from Democratic mayors from Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, New York and Newark, N.J., who have condemned the actions and launched efforts to aid residents (several of these cities identify themselves as sanctuary cities.) A handful of major metropolitan police departments have also announced they will not cooperate with federal immigration authorities.
In addition to these mayors, civil and immigration rights organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union and National Immigration Law Center have been publicizing the rights that people living illegally in the U.S. have in the event they are stopped or visited by law enforcement.
While cities must comply with federal law enforcement, their leaders can use their platform to educate people about what to do if federal law enforcement approaches them, said David W. Leopold, an immigration attorney and former president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
“Nobody’s trying to stand in the way of law enforcement, but what mayors can do is make sure that their citizens, their constituents know their rights,” he said.
For police departments, cooperation with immigration officials could weaken communities’ trust in police and make it more difficult, Leopold said. He also added that local authorities may not be trained in the nuances of immigration law.
“I think it’s a wise move for a mayor or a chief of police to be extremely cautious and stay away from ICE enforcement operations,” he said. “Let ICE do their job; they’re the ones who are trained.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, DCalif., in a statement Saturday described the planned raids as “heartless” and said religious leaders should “call upon the president to stop this brutal action which will tear families apart and inject terror into our communities.”
Mayor Sylvester Turner issued a statement declaring that “unconfirmed reports” that Houston would be targeted “have created a great deal of anxiety for some and it proves once again this country needs comprehensive immigration reform.”
“Houston depends on the ingenuity, the sweat and the rich cultural contributions of its immigrants,” the statement continued. “One of four Houstonians is foreign born and we are the most diverse big city in the U.S. We welcome newcomers of all kinds when they come to our city to work hard and make a home.”
The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed that it was aware of the raids and would not participate. Democratic Mayor Eric Garcetti said on Twitter that his administration was “doing everything we can to provide immigrant families with info and support ahead of the announced ICE deportation sweeps.”
In a tweet addressed to the president, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said residents “won’t be divided by a sick plot to tear families apart and force immigrants into the shadows,” while the mayor of nearby Newark, Ras Baraka, joined other urban mayors from around New Jersey in calling the raids “racist, bigoted and inhumane.”
“This outrageous tearing of families apart and causing fear in communities across America is clearly a political stunt, coming on the heels of Trump’s kickoff of his reelection campaign,” their statement read.
However, not all cities are pushing back against the Trump administration. Miami is said to be one of the cities targeted in ICE’s upcoming raid, but Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill last week that prohibits sanctuary cities in the state, and mandates that local officials must cooperate with federal immigration forces.
The Washington Post reported this week that the Justice Department, which runs the immigration courts, said it was aware of at least 12,780 removal orders issued to “family units” from last Sept. 24 through Friday.
On June 4, ICE’s new chief, Mark Morgan, said that the agency was developing plans to target families who had not heeded orders to leave the U.S. “Our next challenge is going to be interior enforcement,” he said at the time. He pledged that immigration officials would treat the families “with compassion and humanity.”