Posting on social media en route to the G7 summit in Alberta, Trump said millions of undocumented migrants reside in those urban centers and urged agents “to do all in their power” to remove what the American leader dubbed were “Illegal Aliens[sic]”.
White House immigration architect Stephen Miller has set a target of 3,000 arrests a day, up from roughly 650 during the first five months of Trump’s second term, the agency told AP.
Enforcement shift after protests
The directive follows nationwide demonstrations against the administration’s crackdown, including tear-gas dispersals in Los Angeles and Portland after “No Kings” marches coinciding with Trump’s Army anniversary parade in Washington.
Trump credited National Guard deployments for preventing “Los Angeles [from being] ripped apart.”
Exemptions for key industries
While ramping up urban raids, the administration has quietly told agents to pause workplace arrests at farms, meat packers, restaurants and hotels after business leaders warned of labor shortages, AP said, citing an internal memo from ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations unit.
Trump acknowledged on Truth Social that aggressive enforcement was “taking very good, long-time workers away” from those sectors and pledged adjustments.
(jh)
Source: AP News