President Trump on Friday said that mass deportation roundups of undocumented immigrants would begin "fairly soon."
Trump warned about forthcoming mass arrests on June 17 in a tweet. He eventually said he called them off five days later, delaying them for two weeks to see if Democrats and Republicans could reach a solution to the crisis at the southern border. It appears that the operation will now go forward, however.
"They'll be starting fairly soon, but I don't call them raids, we're removing people, all of these people who have come in over the years illegally," Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday.
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Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement that its focus was arresting people with criminal histories, but any immigrant found in violation of U.S. laws was subject to arrest.
Migrant rights groups said the threat is harmful to communities and the U.S. economy — adults and children often skip work and school, respectively, to avoid being arrested. One undocumented immigrant told The Washington Post that she has stopped going to the park and only makes trips to the grocery store every few weeks. "I don't know when I leave in the morning if I'll come home in the night," she said.
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