The raids, which will focus on recent arrivals to the country,are slated for Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York and San Francisco, a senior immigration official said. New Orleans is also on the list, but the city tweeted last week that US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement said it would suspend operations through the weekend in areas hit by Tropical Storm Barry.Acting US Citizenship and Immigration Services director Ken Cuccinelli took issue with referring to the targets of the raids as undocumented. Mayors 'in the dark' on raids"They're not undocumented. They've got a court order on a piece of paper — federal order — that says they've gotten due process, and (there are) over a million people with removal orders. That's the pool that ICE is drawing from," he told CNN. ICE will not comment on operational details of the raids, Cuccinelli said, adding that the priority will be apprehending violent criminals and aggravated felons. ICE agents are not "utilizing" allegations of crossing the border illegally, a misdemeanor, as cause for arrest in the raids, he said. Explaining the raidsAsked if children would be separated from their parents, Cuccinelli said that information constituted an operational detail. But he did say families are among the 1 million people facing removal orders.
Immigrants have been hunkering down
News of the raids has left many undocumented immigrants frightened. They've been stocking up on groceries and making plans to stay in their homes with the lights off and the blinds down. Some are staying home from work. Others are posting signs inside their homes reminding them what to do if ICE agents show up. Unsure of where to turn, they're flooding hotlines with calls. In some cities, local governments and advocacy groups were assisting the immigrants. Supporters in the Chicago neighborhood of Pilsen were posting "know your rights" fliers and encouraging residents to post the fliers, which say, "The family that resides in this home knows their legal rights," at their homes. In New York City, staff members with the mayor's office of immigrant affairs are also informing immigrants of their legal rights and of city resources that are available in the event they encounter an immigration enforcement official. "In the face of heartless raids that would tear families apart, we remain steadfast in our commitment to support and defend immigrant communities," Bitta Mostofi, the office's commissioner, said in a statement. Cuccinelli characterized the raids as normal ICE business and pointed to statistics showing ICE has deported fewer people under President Donald Trump than it did under President Barack Obama. "This is their job every day. We've got compassionate, loyal ICE agents who are just doing their job," he said. "It shows you how far we've fallen in that it's become news that they would actually go deport people who have removal orders."
Raids were postponed from last month
ICE had planned to arrest and deport families with court-ordered removals in late June, according to the senior immigration official, but Trump delayed the raids to give Congress time to "work out a solution" on what he said were asylum and loophole problems with the country's immigration policy. Mark Morgan, acting commissioner for US Customs and Border Protection who was acting ICE director at the time, said the raids were postponed because operations details had been leaked. Former acting ICE director John Sandweg also eRead More – Source
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