US arrests 2,200 immigrants in a day as Trump govt intensifies crackdown

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has sent mass texts urging those enrolled under its Alternative to Detention programme to visit offices before their appointments; many detained upon arrival

On Tuesday, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) carried out the largest single-day operation in its history, detaining more than 2,200 individuals.

 

According to a NBC News report, the arrests were made as the agency faces intensified pressure from the White House to rapidly increase arrests. The people who have been arrested were listed in ICE’s Alternative to Detention (ATD) programme. Under the programme, undocumented migrants who are deemed not to be a threat to public safety are released, but are kept under supervision through ankle monitors, smartphone apps, or other geolocating programmes, along with check-ins at ICE facilities. 

 

According to immigration attorneys cited in the report, ICE sent a mass text message that reached numerous individuals enrolled in the Alternatives to Detention (ATD) programme. The message asked people to show up at ICE offices ahead of their scheduled appointments. However, they were arrested when they showed up.

 

 

The report added that at least seven people who came for check-ins at New York’s ICE office were handcuffed and sent away in unmarked cars. Citing an immigration attorney, representing the family of a 30-year-old Colombian man who was taken away, said that the man had gone to every ICE appointment, adding that “He was, you know, very cooperative with all of the requirements that were made of him.”

 

An ICE spokesperson, commenting on the arrests of immigrants wearing ankle monitors who had appeared for scheduled appointments, told NBC News, “Those arrested had executable final orders of removal by an immigration judge and had not complied with that order.”

 

 

The White House deputy chief of staff for policy, Stephen Miller, allegedly threatened ICE leaders in a meeting of firing away senior officials, if the agency does not start making 3,000 arrests per day.

 

Ever since US President Donald Trump returned to office for his second term, his administration has intensified the crackdown on immigrants living in the US. From introducing a self-deportation app to sending scores of immigrants back to their home country, the Trump administration, while calling out his predecessor Joe Biden’s ‘open border’ policy, has vowed to continue the crackdown on immigrants, citing national security risks.