President Trump launched roundups of illegal immigrants over the weekend. He has promised to deport millions, but this first large-scale round-up is targeting about 2,100 in at least 10 major cities over the next few days.

The raids should deter others from illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. Earlier administrations did the same thing. But the media and activists portray Trump’s raids as if they were unique and unprecedented. They picture Trump as a villain for doing what President Obama did as well.

President Trump ran for president promising he’d combating illegal immigration. He’s keeping true to his word.

Who Are These Immigrants?

Who is ICE looking for among the 10.5 million illegal immigrants living in the country? The 1 million who have final deportation orders. But can ICE find them? Many won’t be at the addresses on file with ICE because they’ve heard about the raid and are hiding. ICE can arrest other illegal immigrants discovered while doing the targeted arrests. These are known as “collateral” deportations.

The targeted illegal immigrants have been given due process in the immigration court system. They “received due process more than any other nation in the world would provide someone that came here illegally,” said Mark Morgan, acting commissioner of Customs and Border Protection.

They were ordered to appear in court for a hearing about removal. Some of them never bothered to show up for their court date. ICE followed up with letters to them in February, giving them the opportunity to be orderly removed, but only 3 percent responded.

Of Course People Objected

Of course the ACLU objected. The group filed a preemptive lawsuit in federal court to stop the deportations. Bureaucratic errors, they claimed, could lead to some illegal immigrants not being provided due process. “Even when the government sent notices to the right address for a real hearing, it repeatedly sent them too late, for locations unreasonably far from immigrants’ homes,” the ACLU said. “Notices thus arrived either after the date set for a hearing or just a few days before, requiring indigent families to immediately travel across the country to hearings in distant states.”

Activists are instructing illegal immigrants not to open their doors if ICE shows up. ICE agents are not legally allowed to forcibly enter a home. Protests started on Friday and continued throughout the weekend.

Police fatally shot a man on Saturday after he was caught with a rifle throwing homemade bombs at the ICE building and vehicles in Tacoma. He attempted to ignite a propane tank. The leftist Facebook group Indiana Progressive Liberals called him a hero and said, “Rest in power freedom fighter.”

Some elected officials are resisting. Some of the mayors in the targeted cities said they will not cooperate with ICE. The New Jersey attorney general instructed law enforcement not to assist ICE with the raids. Others are helping. Two county sheriffs in the state got around the directive by renewing agreements with ICE right before the directive deadline date.

Faith leaders have also jumped into trying to stop the roundup. Those in The Resurrection Project in Chicago called on their congregations to “defend, block and witness.” A Jewish advocacy group called Never Again Action said they intend to shut down the ICE office in Atlanta through a protest on Monday. In Miami, activists are setting up “safe sanctuary spaces in secret locations” to hide immigrants from ICE.

The New York Immigration Coalition has posted numerous flyers instructing illegal immigrants on how to deal with ICE. Some organizations have set up hotlines so people can report ICE activity.

Trying to Hide

The illegal immigrants are trying to hide from the law. They refuse to admit they’ve broken the law by staying in the country after they’d gotten their deportation order. And many people help them avoid the consequences of breaking the law.

ICE agents raided an apartment building in Brooklyn on Saturday. A woman who lives there, Enisa Marie Jimenez, said she went around the building telling people not to answer the door for ICE. “They’re innocent people that cause no trouble, no harm, and they’re all scared,” she said. But how are they innocent if they’ve broken the law?

One illegal immigrant who spoke with CNN said the fear has become exhausting. It makes her wish she could go back to Nicaragua. Why not respond to the deportation order and get a free trip back to your home country then?

Previous deportation operations under President Obama resulted in arrest rates of only 10% at best. Trump’s efforts may be partly thwarted by immigration lawyers filing motions to reopen the immigration cases of those arrested. Regardless, the raids are a good start and should serve as a deterrent to others thinking about breaking the law.

 

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