U.S. immigration agents are planning a new operation to arrest migrant families with children as part of a nationwide crackdown, according to three sources familiar with the matter.
The operation will target adults and children who entered the country together and have existing deportation orders, the sources said.
After being arrested, the families will be placed in detention before being deported.
A separate effort is also underway to track down unaccompanied children who entered the U.S. and were released without court dates, the sources added.
Lawyers at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are reportedly working to obtain warrants to enter homes and carry out the arrests.
Officials from the Department of Homeland Security and ICE have not yet commented on the reports.
During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump and border czar Tom Homan said mass deportation efforts would initially target migrants with criminal records.
However, the new plans suggest that many of the families and children being targeted do not have criminal backgrounds.
As these plans move forward, the Trump administration is working with private prison companies to reopen family detention centers that were closed during the Biden administration.
NBC News reported that CoreCivic, a private prison group, will reopen its family detention center in Dilley, Texas, which can hold up to 2,400 people.
Previous Efforts
Since 2014, the Obama, Trump, and Biden administrations have all taken steps to reduce family and unaccompanied minor crossings at the border.
The Obama and early Trump administrations held families in detention centers after they crossed the border, releasing them with pending court dates.
In 2018, the Trump administration introduced a “zero-tolerance” policy that separated over 5,000 families at the U.S.-Mexico border. Following widespread backlash, Trump reversed the policy.
After taking office in 2021, the Biden administration launched a program to expedite the removal of migrant families.
The program required heads of households to wear ankle monitors until deportation. However, former ICE officials said the program was expensive and limited to certain U.S. cities.
Under the Flores agreement, minors held with their parents cannot be kept in ICE custody for more than 20 days.
This could make large-scale family detentions more complicated and costly than deporting single adults, according to two former ICE officials.
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