US authorities arrested 538 migrants and deported hundreds in a mass operation just days into President Donald Trump’s second administration, his press secretary said late Thursday.
“The Trump Administration arrested 538 illegal immigrant criminals,” Karoline Leavitt said in a post on social platform X, adding “hundreds” were deported by military aircraft.
“The largest massive deportation operation in history is well underway. Promises made. Promises kept,” she said.
Trump promised a crackdown on illegal immigration during the election campaign and began his second term with a flurry of executive actions aimed at overhauling entry to the United States.
On Thursday, Newark City Mayor Ras J. Baraka announced in a statement that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials “raided a local establishment… detaining undocumented residents as well as citizens, without producing a warrant”.
The mayor stated that one of individuals seized during the operation was a US military veteran, and that “this egregious act is in plain violation” of the US Constitution.
According to an ICE post on X, “Enforcement update… 538 arrests, 373 detainers lodged”.
New Jersey Democratic Senators Cory Booker and Andy Kim expressed “deep concern” about the immigration raid in Newark.
“Actions like this one sow fear in all of our communities — and our broken immigration system requires solutions, not fear tactics,” the two leaders said in a joint statement.
Trump has promised to carry out “the largest deportation operation in American history,” affecting an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States.
On his first day in office, he issued orders proclaiming a “national emergency” at the southern border and announcing the deployment of more troops to the area, promising to expel “criminal aliens.”
His government also stated that it will revive the “Remain in Mexico” policy, which existed during Trump’s first presidency and required those who applied to enter the United States from Mexico to remain there until their case was processed.
The White House has also suspended an asylum program for migrants fleeing dictatorial governments in Central and South America, leaving hundreds stuck on Mexico’s side of the border.
Earlier last week, the Republican-led US Congress approved a plan to expand pretrial detention for foreign criminal suspects.
Trump regularly employed gloomy images about how illegal immigrants was “poisoning the blood” of the nation, which opponents interpreted as reminiscent of Nazi Germany.