ICE to reportedly begin raids targeting up to 2,000 migrant families on Sunday

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is set to begin an operation targeting up to 2,000 migrant families who have received deportation orders, The Washington Post and CNN report.

This comes after Trump announced on Twitter Monday that ICE next week would "begin the process of removing the millions of illegal aliens who have illicitly found their way into the United States." Details about this plan were unclear, and the Post reported that officials were not aware Trump would be tweeting out this announcement.

The Post writes that Trump has directed an operation that it is likely to begin with predawn raids on Sunday in up to 10 U.S. cities. Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan has been "hesitant" about parts of this operation, CNN reports, while the Post similarly says McAleenan has been "urging ICE to conduct a narrower, more-targeted operation," warning "an indiscriminate operation" runs the risk of separating children from their parents.

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Detained families are expected to be be moved to ICE family residential detention centers, CNN reports, adding that when there are U.S. citizen children in a family, "the parents will be fitted with an ankle bracelet and allowed to stay with that child to allow time to get affairs in order while other undocumented family members remain in custody." The Post, meanwhile, reports that ICE "is planning to use hotel rooms as temporary staging areas to detain parents and children until all the members of a family are together and ready for deportation," with officials saying those who cannot be immediately deported will be released with ankle monitors.

Although this operation had reportedly been in the works long prior to Trump's tweet, an official told CNN the sudden announcement "helped prioritize things for people." But some within the Department of Homeland Security and ICE, the Post writes, "say the president appears to be using the operation for political purposes as he begins his reelection bid."