Homeland Security Officials: ICE Raids to Start Sunday

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will start raids nationally to arrest undocumented immigrants in several major cities, according to three Homeland Security officials, one former and two current.  

The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to The New York Times, said the actions will take place over several days and include "collateral" deportations, meaning immigrants at the locations could also be detained, even if they're not targeted in the raids. 

The officials said when possible, family members arrested together will be placed in family detention centers in Texas and Pennsylvania, but some could end up in hotel rooms while they are being processed. 

ICE is targeting at least 2,000 immigrants in at least 10 major cities. Most families are people who crossed the border recently, many of whom were given notice in February to report to an ICE office and leave the country.

ICE spokesman Matthew Bourke on Wednesday said the agency wasn't commenting on enforcement operations.

Agents are concerned that the operation could have limited success after word has been spreading in immigrant communities about avoiding arrest, including refusing to open a door if ICE agents appear, as they are not allowed legally to enter a home by force. 

Raids were to have begun last month, but President Donald Trump announced the plan days before they would have begun on Twitter, and in early June, Department of Homeland Security acting Sec. Kevin McAleenan told then-ICE Director Mark Morgan to call off the raids out of concern that parents could be separated from children who are citizens of the United States. 

Trump delayed the effort, citing requests from Democrats,  but threatened to resume them if Democrats didn't work out a solution to loophole issues at the border. Last Friday, he said the actions will begin "fairly soon."  

• Trump: Immigration Raids to Target Those Who 'Broke the Law'
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