ICE begins immigration raids across the U.S.


The Trump administration's long-promised immigration raids started slowly over the weekend, with officials confirming only a few people have been arrested, The New York Times reports.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement wants to carry out deportation orders again 2,000 migrants, primarily targeting families who recently arrived from Central America. Migrants from the region fleeing poverty and violence have been steadily arriving at the southern border, and President Trump believes these raids will deter more people from coming to the U.S.
Several current and former Department of Homeland Security officials told the Times the raids, originally scheduled for June but postponed due to Democratic pushback, were scaled back after immigrant communities were tipped off on what to expect. Instead of the simultaneous raids that had been planned, ICE field offices were told they could decide when they wanted to launch raids in their areas.
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Legally, ICE agents cannot force their ways into the homes of targets, and undocumented migrants have been told by immigrant organizations to not answer their doors. There are reports ICE agents attempted to arrest people in Chicago, New York City, and New Jersey, and authorities told the Times more migrants are expected to be detained during the week.
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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