Trump Not Backing Away From Expected ICE Raid Despite Pushback From Local Democrat Politicians

President Trump on Saturday warned that illegal immigrants apprehended in an upcoming roundup by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “broke the law” and will be deported — even as local Democratic politicians are promising to oppose the operation.

“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,” he tweeted. “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.”

“When people come into our Country illegally, they will be DEPORTED!” he added.

Outside the White House later on Saturday, he said that “everybody who came into the country illegally will be brought out of the country very legally.”

The Washington Post reported that ICE is expected to target 2,000 families in up to 10 cities, including Chicago, New York, Houston and Los Angeles. Trump had announced earlier this week that ICE will “begin the process of removing millions of illegal aliens who have illicitly found their way into the United States.”

ICE said in a statement Friday that “due to law-enforcement sensitivities and the safety and security of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel, the agency will not offer specific details related to enforcement operations.”

However, it said that ICE prioritizes arresting and removing those illegal immigrants “who pose a threat to national security, public safety and border security.”

“In fact, 90 percent of aliens arrested by ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations component in FY2018 had either a criminal conviction(s), pending criminal charge(s), were an ICE fugitive, or illegally re-entered the country after previously being removed,” the statement said.

The Miami Herald reported that among those first to be targeted will be minors who came into the U.S. without their parents and have since turned 18, people who were ordered removed in absentia and people who missed a court hearing and did not respond to letters mailed to their homes by the Department of Justice.

The Post reported that ICE has been preparing agents and equipment for the operation expected to start Sunday and unfold over several days.

But they are likely to face significant opposition from Democratic local officials and politicians, particularly as calls to abolish ICE have taken hold among significant parts of the party.

Trump dismissed the opposition on Saturday, saying they were mostly “high crime” cities.

“Well some cities are going to fight it. But if you notice they’re generally high crime cities, if you look at Chicago they’re fighting it. If you look at other cities they’re fighting it. Many of those cities are high crime cities and they’re sanctuary cities,” he said.

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