Here’s What To Know About The ICE Raids Reportedly Starting This Week
On Thursday, July 11, The New York Times reported an update on when everyone can expect the controversial U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids to begin. The proposed raids have caused alarm for many since President Donald Trump first announced them on June 17, but immigration rights advocates got a brief respite when the proposed raids were delayed by several weeks. Well, according to the Times, the ICE raids will begin on July 14 — only days away. In an emailed statement to Elite Daily, ICE spokesperson Matthew Bourke said the agency couldn't offer specific details due to "law enforcement sensitivities" and the safety of ICE personnel. Here's what you should know.
The Times reported on July 11 that ICE raids to arrest and deport undocumented immigrants from the United States will begin on Sunday, July 14. Per CNN, the first round of raids will reportedly take place in at least 10 major cities and span "multiple days." Those specific cities have yet to be disclosed. ICE officials are reportedly targeting at least 2,000 immigrants who have been ordered to be deported but remain in the United States. However, an anonymous official told the Times that officials expect so-called "collateral" deportations, saying that authorities might detain and deport immigrants who happened to be on the scene whether or not they were actually targeted by the raid.
Per the report, if arrested, undocumented immigrants will be held in family detention centers in Pennsylvania and Texas while their travel documents are processed. ICE agents aim to have the families and individual immigrants deported "as quickly as possible," per the Times.
In an emailed statement to Elite Daily, ICE spokesperson Matthew Bourke said the agency couldn't offer specific details due to "law enforcement sensitivities" and the safety of ICE personnel. The statement continued,
As always, ICE prioritizes the arrest and removal of unlawfully present aliens who pose a threat to national security, public safety and border security. In fact, 90 percent of aliens arrested by ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations component in FY2018 had either a criminal conviction(s), pending criminal charge(s), were an ICE fugitive, or illegally reentered the country after previously being removed. However, all of those in violation of the immigration laws may be subject to immigration arrest, detention and — if found removable by final order — removal from the United States.
Undocumented immigrants and those advocating for them have been on tenterhooks for weeks. On June 17, President Donald Trump took to Twitter to say that ICE raids would begin "next week." But only a few days later, on June 22, Trump took to Twitter once again to state that the raids had been delayed for two weeks so that the GOP and Democratic Party could work on negotiations pertaining to asylum and "loopholes" in the immigration process. The proposed raids were criticized by Democratic officials including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, who shared resources for immigrants via her Twitter on June 22. Trump has defended the raids, tweeting that same day that undocumented immigrants "broke the law" by entering the United States, and by not leaving when ordered to deport.
ICE raids, technically called Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), start when ICE obtains information about immigrants such as known home addresses. From there, ICE officials secure a warrant and attempt to arrest the person or family. Before the raids were delayed, ICE reportedly planned to target cities including Miami, Florida; Atlanta, Georgia; Chicago, Illinois; Baltimore, Maryland; Denver, Colorado; Houston, Texas; Los Angeles, California; New Orleans, Louisiana; New York City, New York; and San Francisco, California. However, there's been no word if those will be the same cities where ICE will focus on July 14. ICE did not directly respond to Elite Daily's inquiry as to where the reported raids will take place.
Only time will tell what will come from these ICE raids. If you, or someone you know, may be impacted by the upcoming raids, here's what to know about what you can do.
