In a new large-scale raid, ICE agents will check migrant families

President Donald Trump instructed US immigration and customs control agents (ICE) to conduct a mass inspection of the families of migrants who received deportation orders, writes The washington post.

Photo: Facebook Immigration And Customs Enforcement (ICE)

According to sources, the publication of three US officials, it is expected that the raid will begin on Sunday 23 June in major US cities.

It is noted that the “family operation” will affect up to 2 000 families who have been deported. Such families mainly live in US 10 cities, including Houston, Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles and others.

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Kevin McAlinan, acting secretary of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), called on ICE to conduct a narrower and more targeted operation that will be used to detain groups of about 150 families who were provided with lawyers, but they left the trial and fled.

Makalinan warned that the indiscriminate operation to arrest migrants in their homes and workplaces could lead to the separation of children from their parents when children are in kindergarten, summer camp or in the homes of their friends and are not present in raids.

On Twitter, Trump said he intends to continue the “family operation” and this will be the first step towards fulfilling his promise to deport “millions.” According to three officials, the White House is in direct contact with ICE Acting Director Mark Morgan and other ICE officials, bypassing McAlinan.

ICE plans to use hotel rooms as temporary holding areas for parents and children until all family members are together and ready for deportation. Officials also acknowledge that they may arrest people they cannot immediately deport — so-called “collateral arrests” — and would likely release those people by equipping them with an electronic monitoring bracelet.

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Morgan, ICE Deputy Director Matt Albbens and others are eagerly awaiting the start of the operation, despite the risk of a negative public reaction. Last year, ICE was criticized and calls for the “abolition of ICE” intensified after the failure of the harsh measures of the presidential administration of “zero tolerance”, which separated more than 2700 children from their parents.

Usually, large-scale ICE operations are kept secret so that migrants cannot be warned, but Trump's tweet has broken this secrecy. Law enforcement officials believe that a public announcement of the operation gave them more freedom to discuss raids.

Some representatives of DHS and ICE say that the president seems to be using the operation for political purposes, counting on re-election. Law enforcement officials are concerned that, by publicly discussing the plan, Trump undermined the chances of capturing those on the main list, and gave the migrant a prescription to deportation, the opportunity to escape.

But others say that the pre-warning of the president played positively in order to reduce the degree of public distrust caused by the “zero tolerance” operation.

“Zero Tolerance wasn't communicated to the public and it didn't turn out very well, so now the idea is to let everyone know what's coming. The thought is: let's do this differently by explaining that these are people who have a final deportation order and have refused to leave the country,” said one senior presidential administration official.

Morgan and other ICE officials insist that this operation is crucial to maintaining the integrity of the US immigration system. According to them, there are about a million immigrants in the United States who were issued deportation orders.

According to DHS statistics, less than two percent of families arriving from Central America in 2017 were deported.

“We sent letters to these individuals in February saying they had deportation orders. We are now at the point where we have no choice but to use our domestic law enforcement powers to determine where these individuals are and deport them,” Morgan said.

Families cannot be exempted from this law, he said: “The law must be applied fairly and equally for all. We are going to do it with compassion and dignity, but we are going to enforce the law. ”
The accelerated family court protocol, or “rocket protocol,” was drafted by Trump officials at the end of last year to deport more migrant families.

The Ministry of Justice quickly monitored the affairs of thousands of families in large cities, receiving correspondence orders for the deportation of thousands of families who did not appear at court hearings.

However, the plan for carrying out these deportations was halted due to fears that it would infuriate the Democrats and reduce the chances of concluding a two-party transaction to eliminate the gap in the US refugee shelter system.

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In April, Trump fired ICE’s former acting director, Ronald Vitello, and then DHS secretary Kirsten Nielsen, when they began to criticize the “family operation” plan, calling for its detailed discussion.

Nicken was replaced by MacAlinan, who achieved significant success in negotiations with leading democrats, including Senator Richard J. Durbin (Illinois), with a request to provide extra help in the amount of 4,6 billion dollars to address the humanitarian crisis at the border. Much of this funding will be directed to caring for unaccompanied children who arrive on the US border without parents.

McAleenan says the crisis at the border — where 144 people were taken into custody last month — remains DHS's most pressing challenge. After Trump threatened to impose tariffs on Mexico, he negotiated with Mexican officials, leading them to agree to sharply tighten enforcement and begin work on a regional asylum overhaul that would allow the United States to send asylum seekers back to Central America.

Morgan this week called on families with deportation orders to surrender to ICE and said that operations aimed at those who ignore court orders will strengthen the broader restraining efforts of the administration.

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