ICE to hold immigration raids this weekend

Federal agents are expected to launch widespread raids on the homes of immigrant families and unaccompanied minors this weekend.

The roundups will target as many as 2,000 families who are subject to deportation orders, but could easily impact other immigrants who have not had such orders issued against them, immigrant advocates said.

President Donald Trump ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to carry out the broad enforcement action, which was first reported Friday in The Washington Post.

The ICE raids are expected to begin before dawn Sunday in as many as 10 cities, including New York, Miami, Los Angeles and Chicago.

Camille Mackler, director of immigration legal policy with the New York Immigration Coalition, said the coming roundup reflects the Trump administration’s desire to promote a narrative that America’s southern border is being flooded with immigrant families — one she says is being exaggerated for political gain.

“Mainly they’re targeting families with children and unaccompanied minors with deportation orders,” she said. “It’s all asylum-seekers, and it’s overwhelmingly families with children. It really highlights how depraved the decision making has become in our country.”

Trump has pushed for the deportation of families since Monday against the advice of his own acting Department of Homeland Security secretary, Kevin McAleenan, who has urged that ICE conduct a more focused roundup targeting closer to 150 families who had attorneys but abandoned the legal process.