WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The incoming US presidential administration of Donald Trump intends to step up immigration enforcement across the country shortly after he takes office on Monday, a source familiar with the matter said.
“We will conduct operations throughout the country,” the person told Reuters on Friday. “You'll see arrests in New York. You'll see arrests in Miami.”
The source was responding to a Wall Street Journal report that the administration was planning a major immigration crackdown in Chicago on Tuesday.
The newspaper, citing four people familiar with the planning, said that the Chicago operation will continue throughout the week, with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement sending between 100 and 200 officers to carry out the operation.
The source who spoke to Reuters denied that there was a special effort to transfer individuals to Chicago.
Trump's transition team did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Immigration has been a focus of Trump's campaign in the run-up to the presidential election scheduled for November 5.
“Within moments of my inauguration, we will begin the largest internal deportation in American history,” Trump said in January 2024.
Trump is expected to mobilize agencies across the US government to help him deport record numbers of migrants, building on efforts he made in his first term to leverage all available resources and pressure so-called “sanctuary” authorities to cooperate, Reuters reported.
