The incoming Trump administration is considering conducting a high-profile raid targeting undocumented immigrants in its initial days, according to three people familiar with the discussions. The raid could target immigrants allegedly living in the United States illegally at a workplace in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, the people said.
In meetings between the Trump transition team and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, the Trump team has repeatedly asked about resources and logistics immediately available to carry out workplace raids, the three people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they’re not authorized to speak to the media about transition discussions, said.
Such an operation typically targets a large employer and surprises workers during the workday by rushing ICE agents in and making arrests of people suspected to be living in the United States and working without authorization, teeing them up for possible deportation.
The people familiar with the discussions said some potential workplaces the new administration could target include businesses in the agriculture, construction, hospitality and health care industries.
They did not believe a final decision had been made on a location or precise timing, though they expected the operation would take place in the first few days of Trump’s presidency, potentially even as early as Inauguration Day.
The transition officials’ discussions about workplace raids suggest the incoming administration is not simply focused on immigrants living in the United States with criminal histories, but rather making arrests and deportations on a large scale, even if migrants have committed no crimes besides entering or working in the United States illegally.
The Trump transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Targeting the metropolitan Washington region close to Trump’s inauguration could have the kind of “shock and awe” effect the incoming administration has been hoping to deliver on one of Trump’s most central campaign promises. Trump vowed to carry out “the largest deportation operation in the history of the United States.”
But workplace raids can be logistically complicated and costly, current and former Homeland Security officials said. Raiding a workplace takes significant manpower as well as a lengthy investigation before the raid to determine whether there are in fact a significant number of people working there illegally, according to a former ICE official who is not familiar with planning for the raids the transition team is considering.
The Trump administration carried out workplace raids in his first term, following a precedent set during President George W. Bush’s administration. But the administrations of Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden instead targeted employers violating labor laws rather than make planned mass arrests of employees.
