Arrests targeting 2,000 undocumented immigrants set to start Sunday

Nationwide raids to arrest thousands of members of undocumented immigrant families have been scheduled to begin on Sunday, according to several homeland security officials who briefed the New York Times.

The Times, in a report published early Thursday, said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents would conduct the raids, which would start Sunday and continue over a several day period. This is the same planned immigration roundup that was previously announced — and then postponed — by President Trump, who most recently signaled his intent to green light the roundup again sometime after the Fourth of July.

The authorities planned to detain those rounded up at facilities in Texas and Pennsylvania until their travel documents for deportation can be prepared, according to the officials who spoke anonymously to the newspaper.

The raids will target approximately 2,000 immigrants who have been ordered deported but are believed to still be in major cities across the U.S. Some of those targeted failed to show up for court hearings, while others were subjected to efforts by the Trump Administration to expedite proceedings.

The insiders who briefed the Times expressed concerns over the effectiveness of the upcoming raids due to advance publicity, as well as noting that word has spread among immigrants about how to avoid arrest by refusing to open their doors and let ICE agents in.

Under the law, deportation orders are different from arrest warrants, so ICE officials are not allowed to force their way into anyone’s home to take a suspected illegal immigrant into custody.