The Trump administration is cracking down on illegal immigrants starting on day one

Raids to detain and deport immigrants living in the US without permission will begin on the first full day of President-elect Donald Trump’s administration, sources have told the BBC’s US partner CBS.

These actions – threatened by Trump’s “border chief” Tom Homan – could begin in Chicago, a city with a large immigrant population, as early as Tuesday.

Trump has vowed to oversee the largest deportation program in American history, and Homan said criminals and gang members will be prioritized in the crackdown.

In an interview with Fox News this week, the border tsar promised a “massive offensive” across the country. You have said Chicago will be “ground zero” for mass deportations.

Homan added to the administration’s plans on Fox News on Saturday, saying the deportations would not be “raids”, but “targeted enforcement operations”.

He described these efforts as well planned.

“When ICE comes out, they’ll know exactly who they’re looking for and where to find them,” Homan said.

He said he expects deportation flights to take off in President Trump’s first week and expects daily lawsuits of attempted deportations from organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union.

“I’m sure we will be sued, but bring it,” he said.

Trump, a Republican, also promised mass deportations before his first term in office in 2017, though he ended up removing about half the number of immigrants that President Barack Obama, a Democrat, did in his first four years.

The 47th president will take office with broad support for his border policies. A New York Times and Ipsos poll published Saturday found 55% of Americans strongly or somewhat support the deportation of so many people.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency deports illegal immigrants all the time.

However, the task force that will be introduced after Trump’s inauguration on Monday is expected to target so-called “sanctuary” cities that reduce cooperation with immigration officials, two sources familiar with the plans told CBS.

According to CBS, ICE officials in the Chicago area recently asked agents to join this week’s planned raid without notifying the agency’s heads in Washington DC.

New York, Los Angeles, Denver and Miami are also to be targeted in the attack, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed sources familiar with the plans.

Others Reports suggest Trump could end long-standing policy that has put weeks of restrictions on ICE arrests.

At a church in a predominantly Latino neighborhood in Chicago, worshipers shared their concerns with the BBC.

“I’m scared, but I can’t imagine how undocumented people feel,” said Camacho, a 21-year-old legal immigrant from Mexico who attended the Lincoln United Methodist Church in the Pilsen area last Sunday. .

Teacher Emma Lozano said: “If a person with five children is taken, who will take the children? Will they go to social organizations? Will the family be separated?”

The rules under Democratic President Joe Biden meant that ICE would generally prioritize the arrest of illegal immigrants who were serious criminals, had recently crossed the border or posed a national security threat.

Although Trump’s team has signaled that it will start with immigrants who have committed crimes, all illegal immigrants – including those who have lived and worked in the US for years and have no criminal history – are likely to be arrested and deported.

Immigration raids on construction sites where undocumented immigrants are often employed are also expected to resume, after being stopped by the Biden administration, according to CBS.

However, this operation may cause difficulties for the authorities – there is little place to keep the prisoners.

Meanwhile, the Laken Riley Act — named after a college student killed last year in Georgia by an illegal immigrant from Venezuela who was arrested for shoplifting — is expected to be passed by Congress next week.

The proposed legislation would require the federal government to detain immigrants living in the US illegally who are suspected of committing crimes.