Trump administration begins immigration arrests in Chicago

Washington: The Justice Department announced Sunday it had begun a multiagency immigration enforcement operation in Chicago, as the Trump administration sought to show it is quickly fulfilling a campaign promise to ramp up arrests and deportations.

Officials said a host of law enforcement agencies would conduct such operations in the coming days. The Justice Department announced that its acting deputy attorney general, Emil Bove, had travelled to Chicago to oversee the effort to address what he called a “national emergency.”

The Trump administration has enlisted various law enforcement agencies within the Justice Department — the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the US Marshals Service — to assist operations in Chicago and elsewhere.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement on Sunday night that it had made 956 arrests on Sunday, though it was unclear how many of them were in Chicago. Local officials in Chicago said they had not been involved in the operations. In some neighborhoods, residents said people were concerned, but also confused about how the reported immigration operations were going to play out.

Bove urged local officials to aid in the effort, and warned there could be consequences for those who do not.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that his state would cooperate with federal authorities in deporting immigrants convicted of crimes or with pending deportation orders. But he emphasised that state law enforcement would not take part in targeted raids or profile people in the state who might be without legal status.

Pritzker’s office was not given advance notice of the arrests, officials in the governor’s office said. A spokesperson for the Chicago Police Department reiterated Sunday that the department, in accordance with municipal code, does not document immigration status or share information with federal immigration authorities.

The field offices of the FBI and the DEA assisted in the operation, officials in Chicago confirmed.

Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar, said Sunday that the operation in Chicago, which was focused on public safety threats with a criminal background, had resulted in some arrests, though he did not specify how many.

He confirmed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers made “collateral arrests,” picking up migrants who were around the target of the operation.