Nationwide ICE raids will begin Sunday, officials say
Nationwide raids to arrest thousands of members of undocumented families have been scheduled to begin Sunday, according to one former and two current homeland security officials, moving forward with a rapidly changing operation, the final details of which remain in flux. The operation, backed by President Donald Trump, had been postponed, partly because of resistance among officials at his own immigration agency.
The raids, which will be conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement over multiple days, will include “collateral” deportations, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the preliminary stage of the operation. In those deportations, the authorities might detain immigrants who happened to be on the scene, even though they were not targets of the raids.
When possible, family members who are arrested together will be
held in family detention centers in Texas and Pennsylvania. But because of space limitations, some might end up staying in hotel rooms until their travel documents can be prepared. ICE’s goal is to deport the families as quickly as possible.
The officials said ICE agents were targeting at least 2,000 immigrants who have been ordered deported — some as a result of their failure to appear in court — but who remain in the country illegally. The operation is expected to take place in at least 10 major cities.
The families being targeted crossed the border recently: The Trump administration expedited their immigration proceedings last fall. In February, many of those immigrants were given notice to report to an ICE office and leave the United States, the homeland security officials said.
Matthew Bourke, an ICE spokesman, said in a statement on Wednesday that the agency would not comment on specific details related to enforcement operations, to ensure the safety and security of agency personnel.
The threat of deportation has rattled immigrant communities across the country, prompted backlash from local politicians and police officials and stoked division inside the Department of Homeland Security — the agency that is charged with carrying out the deportations.
The American Civil Liberties Union pre- emptively filed a lawsuit Thursday in an attempt to protect asylum seekers. Meanwhile, activists ramped up efforts to prepare by bolstering know- yourrights pocket guides, circulating information about hotlines and planning public demonstrations. Vigils outside of detention centers were set for Friday, to be followed by protests Saturday in major cities.
Community leaders and immigration organizations in Pittsburgh have expressed their concerns and anger.
On Thursday afternoon, Mayor Bill Peduto said he hasn’t been made aware of any additional ICE enforcement in Pittsburgh.
“Usually when something like that does occur and there is a warning, I’m usually notified that day,” Mr. Peduto said. “So unless something just happened this morning that I’m unaware of, it would be highly unlikely that there is something credible.”
Jamie Englert, the director of immigration and legal services at the Jewish Family and Community Services, said although she is concerned about the increase in ICE enforcement, she does not believe it will largely affect the local region. JFCS works to settle refugees.
In the event a family member does get detained by ICE officials, Ms. Englert said JFCS has “deportation preparedness packets” that contain information on what a family can do moving forward -- from information on how to pay for rent to provisions on guardianship of children if both parents are detained.
The Rev. Randall Bush, the senior pastor at East Liberty Presbyterian Church, said he is “appalled” at the nationwide raids and that they are “totally counterproductive” and “far more invasive and dehumanizing” than detaining people at the individual level.
The Trump administration’s goal is to use the operation as a show of force to deter families from approaching the southwestern border, the homeland security officials said.
While rare, such coordinated raids have occurred under previous administrations. Agents have expressed apprehensions about arresting babies and young children, officials have said. The agents have also noted that the operation might have limited success because word has already spread among immigrant communities about how to avoid arrest — namely, by refusing to open the door when an agent approaches one’s home. ICE agents are not legally allowed to forcibly enter a home.
Immigration defense lawyers are likely to file motions to reopen the families’ immigration cases, which would significantly delay, if not stop altogether, their removal from the United States.
For weeks last month, the ICE director at the time, Mark Morgan, signaled that agents would escalate efforts to round up families. Days before the operation was to begin, Mr. Trump forecast the plan on Twitter, blindsiding ICE agents whose safety officials feared would be compromised as a result.
Homeland security officials also worried that many of the families that the administration had hoped to detain might have left the addresses known to ICE after Mr. Trump tweeted the agency’s plans.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Mr. Trump after his tweet and urged him to halt the operation, which in a statement hours later she described as “heartless.”
Mr. Trump then tweeted that he would delay the effort at the Democrats’ request. But he also threatened to resume the deportations if Democrats refused to join with Republican lawmakers to “work out a solution to the Asylum and Loophole problems at the Southern Border.”
Last Friday, Mr. Trump said the raids would begin “fairly soon.”
“I say they came in illegally, and we’re bringing them out legally,” the president told reporters.