Washington, Apr 28 (EFE). – The administration of United States President Donald Trump doubled down on immigration policies on Monday, announcing two executive orders to counter the protection of migrants in sanctuary cities, including an increase in Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in workplaces across the country.
As part of his first 100 days in office this week, Trump will sign two executive orders on Monday aimed at making it easier to arrest immigrants and targeting cities and counties known as sanctuaries that limit local police cooperation with immigration authorities.
The announcement was made by Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director, Border Czar, Tom Homan, along with White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt, during a press conference about the administration’s renewed efforts on mass deportations and border enforcement.
The first executive order aims to “strengthen and unleash” US law enforcement to pursue immigrants, especially those with criminal records, Leavitt said, without elaborating.
The second order directs the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security to publish a list of state and local jurisdictions Leavitt said “obstruct the enforcement of federal immigration laws,” referring to the so-called sanctuary cities.
The idea of sanctuary cities was born in the 1980s to protect Central American refugees and currently covers undocumented immigrants in general in ten states and dozens of local jurisdictions.
In February, the Trump administration announced a lawsuit against the state of Illinois and the withholding of federal funds from jurisdictions that pursue sanctuary policies.
Chicago has one of the most robust policies that seek to limit cooperation with ICE and other federal immigration authorities; other states, counties, and cities with similar practices include Los Angeles, New York, Houston, and Atlanta.
In addition, the administration announced that workplace immigration enforcement actions would “triple” to deport undocumented immigrants, warned Homan.
The Trump administration has blamed the increase in worksite raids on “sanctuary” policies that prevent local police from cooperating with ICE agents.
“If we can’t arrest them in the community, we’ll arrest them at their workplace,” Homan vowed.
The current administration has defended ICE raids on businesses and other workplaces, claiming they have found victims of human trafficking or forced labor.
ICE and US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents have detained farmworkers and day laborers seeking work in the corners of construction warehouses.
Last week, a Border Patrol operation in Los Angeles County culminated in the arrest of nearly 20 day laborers in the parking lot of a construction supply store.
In January, more than 200 undocumented immigrants, mainly Mexican farmworkers, were detained on their way to work in California’s Central Valley, considered the US agricultural breadbasket.
Homan also said Monday that the U.S. expects to detain migrants at U.S. Department of Defense facilities such as Fort Bliss, an Army post in Texas, adding that facilities at the Guantanamo Bay military base will continue to be used to house migrants. EFE.
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