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ICE Targeted Thousands In Raids, But So Far Has Only Arrested 35
An immigration sweep targeting thousands of people nationwide resulted in only 35 arrests, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Tuesday, suggesting that the widely publicized advance notice of the raids, including prominent mention by President Trump, led many people to take actions to avoid being caught.
The sweep, called Operation Border Resolve, was focused on more than 2,000 families with final orders of removal by an immigration judge. The numbers so far have fallen far short of the target.
The acting director of ICE discussed the numbers during a call with reporters, citing the wide notice given across the country.
Of those arrested, 18 were members of families and 17 were collateral arrests, meaning they were not on the target list but were present when arrests were being made, according to ICE.
“There were advocates, there were people in Congress sitting here giving instructions to people illegally in the country and telling them how to avoid detection,” Matthew Albence said.
To explain the low arrest numbers, Albence cited ICE’s suspension ofenforcement operations in the New Orleans area because of a tropical storm. The agency also backed out of some operations in which ICE agents were being watched by locals, to avoid confrontation, he said.
ICE will continue to go after tens of thousands of family units who are in the country illegally and who have removal orders, Albence said, including those who have escaped detention in the latest operation.
The operation, forecast by Trump as a major roundup, was expected to target several major U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Miami, Denver, Atlanta, Baltimore and Houston.
