Trump says ICE will be deporting illegal immigrants already ordered to leave the US by courts

President Donald Trump has said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement will be targeting those who have already been heard by a court and ordered deported in raids set to begin at dawn on Sunday.

‘These are people that came into the country illegally – they’ve been served and gone through a process of the courts. They have to be removed from the country, and they will be removed from the country,’ Trump told reporters on the South Lawn of the White House on Saturday while departing for Camp David. 

‘Everybody that came into the country illegally will be brought out of the country, very legally,’ he continued.

‘Some cities are going to fight it, but if you notice they’re generally high crime cities. If you look at Chicago… many of those cities are sanctuary cities and they’re high-crime cities,’ Trump said, referring to vows from several Democratic mayors to fight the enforcement action.

Trump said on Saturday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement will be targeting those who have already been heard by a court and ordered deported

Trump said the enforcement action would have ‘a very big effect on the border’ and deter further illegal immigration.  

Earlier Saturday morning, he tweeted: ‘The people that Ice will apprehend have already been ordered to be deported. This means that they have run from the law and run from the courts.’ 

‘These are people that are supposed to go back to their home country. They broke the law by coming into the country, & now by staying,’ he wrote.

‘When people come into our Country illegally, they will be DEPORTED!’ Trump continued.

Cities to be targeted in the raid include New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Houston – all Democratic controlled and many of which forbid local law enforcement from helping ICE.

In a call with reporters earlier this week, Mark Morgan, the acting director of the ICE, said the agency would target for deportation families that have received a removal order from a U.S. immigration court. 

The action will target 2,040 families, sources say. The other cities affected are Miami, Baltimore, Atlanta, Denver, and New Orleans.

The anticipated sweep is expected to be similar to operations that authorities have regularly done since 2003. They often produce hundreds of arrests.

This one is different because Trump announced Monday on Twitter that it would be the start of an effort to deport millions of people in the country illegally, a near-impossibility given limited resources of ICE, which makes the arrests and carries out deportation orders.

It’s also slightly unusual to target families – as opposed to immigrants with criminal histories – but not unprecedented. The Obama and Trump administrations have targeted families in previous operations.

An ICE agent is seen in a file photo. The anticipated sweep is expected to be similar to operations that authorities have regularly done since 2003

An ICE agent is seen in a file photo. The anticipated sweep is expected to be similar to operations that authorities have regularly done since 2003

Many of the mayors of the Democrat-controlled cities in line for enforcement sweeps have vowed to do everything in their power to stymie federal immigration enforcement.

In New York, Mayor Bill de Blasio, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, tweeted his opposition to the enforcement action, calling it ‘a sick plot to tear families apart and force immigrants into the shadows.’

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo thundered in a statement that Trump’s plans were ‘shameful and wholly unacceptable.’

‘We will fight back at every turn to protect our immigrant families,’ Cuomo vowed. ‘New York will continue to be the beacon of inclusion and diversity that the nation and the world looks to.’ 

Chicago’s Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she had terminated ICE’s access to Chicago Police Department (CPD) databases related to federal immigration enforcement activities in response to the threat of raids.

‘I have also personally spoken with ICE leadership in Chicago and voiced my strong objection to any such raids. Further, I reiterated that CPD will not cooperate with or facilitate any ICE enforcement actions,’ Lightfoot said in a statement.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, seen on Friday night at a South Carolina Fish Fry, is among the local officials who are vowing to do everything in their power to stymie enforcement

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, seen on Friday night at a South Carolina Fish Fry, is among the local officials who are vowing to do everything in their power to stymie enforcement

The Los Angeles Police Department said in a series of tweets it would not participate or assist in the immigration enforcement actions.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti in a statement called the enforcement efforts ‘inhumane, disgraceful, and dangerous,’ adding ‘we won’t stand for it in Los Angeles.’ 

Houston’s Mayor Sylvester Turner noted in a statement the ‘rich cultural contributions’ of the city’s immigrants, and said: ‘The city does not try to do ICE’s job, nor does it try to impede ICE.’

The number of migrants apprehended crossing the U.S.-Mexico border surged in May to the highest level since 2006.

Most of the migrants are from Central America, and are seeking asylum, a process that can take years. 

Many families are released into the United States for the duration of the process because of limits on how long children can be detained.

Last fiscal year, ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations unit arrested over 158,500 individuals in the country illegally, an 11 percent increase over the prior year and the highest number since 2014. The agency says 66 percent of those arrested are convicted criminals.

Last month, ICE officers arrested 900 people during a three-week sting in California. 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk