The Trump administration reportedly created a secret plan to carry out mass arrests of thousands of migrants in 10 major U.S. cities — including New York, Chicago and LA — in an apparent shock-and-awe operation targeting families that had recently entered the country.
The details of the proposed operation were laid out by the Washington Post in an exclusive report on Tuesday. The Post reported that the plan was challenged by then-Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and then-acting ICE Director Ronald Vitiello, both of whom have since been ousted.
The plan would’ve fast-tracked immigration court cases and then allowed the government to arrest and deport migrants who didn’t show up to their hearings, the Post said, citing seven current and former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials. The operation was intended as a show of force, and there would’ve been arrests and coordinated raids at homes with parents and children.
DHS, Military Train for Possibility of Mass Migration by Sea