President Donald Trump has ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to step up deportations in major Democratic-run cities.
The directive follows large protests across the country, especially in Los Angeles, against his immigration enforcement policies.
On Sunday, Trump used social media to announce his latest immigration move.
Highlights
- President Trump has ordered ICE to ramp up deportations in major Democratic cities like LA, New York, and Chicago.
- Currently, ICE has a quota for 3,000 arrests a day, up from about 650 daily earlier this year.
- Trump’s order comes days after protests in Los Angeles turned tense.
- California sued Trump over his deployment of the National Guard to L.A., arguing he overstepped his authority.
Donald Trump has ordered ICE to step up deportations in major Democratic-run cities
Image credits: The White House/ Flickr
Trump told ICE officials “to do all in their power to achieve the very important goal of delivering the single largest Mass Deportation Program in History.”
He said the agency must focus on large cities like Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago, where he claims “millions upon millions of illegal aliens” live.
“Now go, GET THE JOB DONE!” Trump wrote on Truth Social as he left for the G7 summit in Alberta, Canada.
ICE has already been increasing arrests under Trump’s second term.
The agency has a quota for 3,000 arrests a day, up from about 650 daily earlier this year.
This move comes in contrast to what Trump had signaled last week, when he promised future policy changes that would protect migrant farmers, hotel workers, and other workers in the leisure industry.
Trump said he received concerns from business owners in agriculture and hospitality. They told him that longtime workers were being deported, causing a worker shortage.
“Our farmers are being hurt badly,” Trump said on June 12. “You know, they have very good workers. They've worked for them for 20 years. They’re not citizens, but they've turned out to be, you know, great.”
Image credits: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
Tatum King, an official with ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations unit, told regional leaders to halt investigations of the agriculture industry, including meat packers, and all restaurants and hotels.
While these industries will be protected from deportation for now, bigger Democrat cities have come under Trump’s attention.
“These, and other such Cities, are the core of the Democrat Power Center,” he said on Truth Social.
“They use Illegal Aliens to expand their Voter Base, cheat in Elections, and grow the Welfare State, robbing good paying Jobs and Benefits from Hardworking American Citizens.”
The order came days after protests in Los Angeles turned tense.
On Saturday, during the No Kings demonstrations held in response to Trump’s military parade, thousands protested the ongoing immigration raids.
Trump has asked ICE to deport illegal immigrants from Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago
Image credits: David McNew/Getty Images
While most demonstrations were reportedly peaceful, police in Los Angeles used tear gas and rubber bullets to clear crowds.
Similar actions happened in Portland, Oregon, where protesters gathered outside ICE buildings late into the night.
During the protest in Utah, a 39-year-old man was fatally shot.
Trump deployed 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to Los Angeles to quell unrest amid ongoing protests against his immigration policy. This went against the wishes of local and state authorities.
California has since argued that Trump overstepped his authority and sued to regain control of the National Guard from Trump. That suit is working its way through federal court.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer initially sided with California, ruling that Trump’s deployment violated the Constitution. However, an appeals court has since blocked that ruling, allowing Trump to retain control of the troops for now.
A further hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.
Mayor Karen Bass exclaimed how “people are afraid to leave their homes,” and that raids have seemed at times “indiscriminate.”
Image credits: Cristopher Rogel Blanquet/Getty Images
About a third of the Los Angeles population includes foreign immigrants, with 2.2 million at risk of deportation.
“This is the United States. You are not supposed to have to show your papers if you go out in public. It's hard for me to believe it's targeted,” Bass said.
Trump’s administration says illegal border crossings have dropped sharply. Border Patrol agents now report fewer than 10,000 monthly migrant encounters, down from over 100,000 at the same time last year.