CHICAGO (NewsNation) — Top Trump administration officials, including “border czar” Tom Homan, visited Chicago on Sunday to oversee ramped-up immigration enforcement efforts as federal agencies touted arrests nationwide.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents made 956 arrests nationwide on Sunday and 286 on Saturday.
While in Chicago, acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove said he observed immigration agents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), along with agents from the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). He did not offer details on the operation, which came days after the DHS expanded immigration authority to agencies in the Department of Justice, including the DEA and ATF.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump is disappointed in the results of his mass deportation efforts so far, the Washington Post reports, urging ICE to increase daily arrests to at least 1,200 to 1,500. ICE has averaged 433 daily arrests since Trump’s inauguration, nearly doubling on Sunday.
Dozens of alleged Tren de Aragua members arrested in Denver
These targeted enforcements are happening nationwide, including in New Jersey, New York, Los Angeles and Austin, Texas.
In Denver, law enforcement officials conducted an early morning operation at a makeshift nightclub, seizing drugs, weapons and cash. Approximately 50 people who were reportedly in the U.S. illegally were taken into custody — many allegedly connected with the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
“I want a safer community. I live in this community too, and I feel like the people in the Denver metro area can wake up today and feel like they have a safer city to live in,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Pullen.
ICE arrested five alleged Tren de Aragua members in Chicago on Sunday.
Illinois’ Pritzker backs ‘law-abiding’ undocumented migrants
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson launched a “Know Your Rights” ad campaign across the city’s public transit trains, as Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker called on Trump to stop going after what he called “law-abiding” undocumented migrants.
“Violent criminals who are undocumented in this country should be deported,” Pritzker said. “But when we’re talking about undocumented people who have been living law-abiding lives and raising families in the United States, we need comprehensive immigration reform. We need to give them an opportunity to stay in this country legally.”
The “Illinois Trust Act” limits local involvement with federal immigration enforcement, meaning Chicago Police officers are blocked from cooperating with ICE agents.
Homan argues ICE wouldn’t need to conduct such community arrests if local law enforcement were allowed to collaborate more closely with ICE to target high-priority criminals.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
