Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, taking directions from President Donald Trump’s border czar Tom Homan, have arrested over 2,500 illegal immigrants since Trump was sworn into office last Monday.
ICE officials reported that it arrested 956 people in raids across the country on Sunday alone, NBC News reported. ICE agents have focused their attention on numerous cities, including “sanctuary cities” like Chicago and Los Angeles. Homan told NBC News that the federal government made some “collateral” arrests along with arresting illegal immigrants convicted of violent crimes.
“In a sanctuary city, if we can’t get the bad guy in jail, we’re going to go into the community and find him, which we’re doing today,” Homan said. “And when we find him, if they’re with others who are here illegally, they’re going too.”
Trump’s border czar added that he’s not working to fill a “quota” and is telling agents to “arrest as many [illegal immigrants] as you can that are public safety threats.”
“And if they’re with somebody else illegally here, they’re coming too,” Homan said.
ICE hasn’t been the only federal government agency cracking down on criminal illegal immigrants since Trump took over. In Colorado, the Drug Enforcement Agency arrested 50 people at a “makeshift nightclub” over the weekend. Many of those arrested in the Colorado nightclub bust reportedly have ties to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
U.S. military branches, such as the Marine Corps and the Coast Guard, have also deployed troops and assets to help stop migrants from illegally crossing into the country. Within 24 hours of Trump being sworn in, Homan instructed ICE agents to arrest “the most serious public safety threats throughout the country.”
Homan was joined by TV personality Dr. Phil on the streets of Chicago on Sunday as cameras showed ICE agents detain an illegal immigrant from Thailand who was convicted of sex crimes involving children.
“Again, the downfall, the problem with a sanctuary city is that people like this [are] walking the street rather than having law enforcement working with federal agents,” Homan said. “This is what we’re dealing with.”
