President Donald Trump’s border czar told reporters Thursday that federal authorities planned to increase immigration raids in Los Angeles and other so-called “sanctuary cities,” with Chicago likely the next target.
“You’re going to see a ramp up of operations in New York; you’re going to see a ramp up of operations continue in L.A., Portland, Seattle, all these sanctuary cities that refuse to work with ICE,” Tom Homan said.
Since June, Southern California has been ground zero of thousands of immigration arrests as well as legal battles over whether the raids violate the U.S. Constitution.
There is no agreed-upon definition for sanctuary policies or sanctuary cities, but the terms generally describe limited cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Homan did not elaborate on specifics about new raids in L.A.
But talking to reporters Thursday morning, he said Immigration and Customs Enforcement is considering using a naval base north of Chicago as its hub when potential enforcement raids take place in that city.
Tom Homan said, “there’s discussions about that, yes,” when asked by reporters outside the White House.
He didn’t provide an exact timeline for the use.
“The planning is still being discussed,” he said. “So, maybe by the end of today.”
Earlier this week, Trump said Chicago would likely be the next city in which he’ll direct a crack down on crime and, in particular, illegal immigration.
He recently sent 2,000 National Guard troops to Washington D.C. after having dispatched soldiers, ICE and border patrol agents to Los Angeles since early June. The Department of Homeland Security said that as of Aug. 8 ICE and Border Patrol agents had arrested 2,792 illegal aliens in the Los Angeles area.
“I think Chicago will be… next,” Trump told reporters at the White House last Friday.
He also called the City of Broad Shoulders a “mess” and that its residents were “screaming for us to come.” Three days after Trump railed about crime in Chicago, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson released a statement, saying overall crime in the city had dropped by 21.6%, year to date, with homicides falling by 32.3%.
Homan would not commit to how many soldiers and agents would be used in any immigration enforcement.
“We’re not going to tell you how many resources we’re going to send to the city,” he said. “We don’t want the bad guys to know what we’re sending.”
He added, “It will be a large contingent.”
Since a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting federal agents from targeting people solely based on their race, language, vocation or location, the number of arrests in Southern California declined in July.
But raids are continuing, with Home Depot stores becoming a common target in recent weeks.
On Aug. 1, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied a Trump administration request to lift the restraining order prohibiting roving raids.
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