Trump Officials Plan Immigration Raids in Chicago Next Week
By Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Hamed Aleaziz
The incoming Trump administration intends to carry out “post-inauguration” immigration raids in Chicago next week, according to two people familiar with the planning and correspondence reviewed by The New York Times, an opening step in President-elect Donald J. Trump’s goal to oversee the largest deportation operation in American history.
The plan, called “Operation Safeguard” by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, would start on Tuesday, the day after Mr. Trump is inaugurated, and last until the following Monday, according to the people familiar with it and the correspondence. The dates were still being finalized, however, and could change.
The size of the planned operation was unclear. ICE routinely conducts deportations in cities throughout the United States. But the agency was taking additional steps to ramp up enforcement for the operation and tied it to Mr. Trump’s inauguration in a message sent to personnel throughout the agency.
Hundreds of agents were asked to volunteer and participate in the “post-inauguration” operation targeting immigrants in the United States illegally. ICE is planning on sending roughly 150 agents to Chicago for the raids.
For Mr. Trump, the optics of immigration agents sporting ballistic gear and arresting immigrants with uncertain or contested status in a Democratic-led city could be enough. The incoming administration is eager to find ways to send a message that it is cracking down on undocumented immigrants and punishing so-called sanctuary cities — communities like Chicago that refuse to hand over immigrants detained by the police to federal immigration authorities.
Don Terry, a spokesman for the Chicago police, said the department would not “intervene or interfere with any other government agencies performing their duties,” but said that it “does not document immigration status” and “will not share information with federal immigration authorities.”
The planned raids were reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal.
Cue up rent-a-mob riots in 3-2-1…..
It isn’t as if Trump hasn’t been promising widespread raids his first day in office. And then he changed a little bit, saying “only hardcore criminals” and that “maybe some deserve citizenship”. The “deep state” is Trump, and this was “leaked” to give the cover for why the Trump administration won’t do a damned thing.
Indeed, Tom Homan, whose fat face I always have to see on Fox now, saying he’s going to do this, do that, etc., has no power to do anything. That’s CPB, ICE, and DHS, and notice no one from that group is saying anything.
You got played Trumpers. Again. Trump has created an illusion of MAGA rebels wanting to help America but just can’t seem to win because of the “deep state”. He is deep state. The C19 vaccine came from him, he only started building a wall in 2019 because of criticism, and he couldn’t build the whole wall, he spent more per year than any president in US history…..and he regrets nothing.
So now Trump has a the excuse to why the actions he’s been telegraphing, clearly for a year- raids and deportation on day one- won’t happen.
I can already hear the MAGA cult getting ready to excuse Trump again.