Mass deportation roundups could start 'fairly soon,' Trump says

(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

published 6 July 2019

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.

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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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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.

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