ICE to conduct major immigration operations in three cities per week

Federal enforcement agencies are targeting three U.S. cities per week for large-scale immigration arrests, with Aurora, Colorado, to come next, three sources familiar with the planning told NBC News.

So far this week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, along with other federal law enforcement agencies, have focused arrests in Chicago, in an operation that began Sunday, and New York City, where arrests began Tuesday. Those efforts will next shift to Aurora for an operation beginning Thursday morning, the sources said.

Aurora, about 40 minutes outside Denver, was a focus for Donald Trump during his presidential campaign as he said the city had been “infected by Venezuela,” referring to reports of criminal activity by a Venezuelan gang. City officials pushed back on Trump’s rhetoric, and Police Chief Todd Chamberlain told NBC News that Aurora is “very safe.” 

Sources familiar with plans to carry out Trump’s promise of mass deportation operations said ICE field offices across the country have been told to increase their routine operations to pick up more migrants. Those operations may include some federal law enforcement agents from other agencies, they said. 

In addition, agents across federal agencies will fly into three cities per week for larger operations, for what one source described as an “all hands on deck” approach to boost the number of arrests.

On Sunday, acting ICE Director Caleb Vitello gave direction to leaders of ICE’s field offices to increase their daily arrest numbers to a goal of 1,200 to 1,500, according to two sources familiar with an internal meeting. One source described the number as a goal meant as motivation, while another said that it is a quota and that agents may be penalized for not meeting it. The Washington Post was first to report that ICE had been directed to arrest 1,200 to 1,500 migrants as a daily quota. 

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As a result of the directive, agents are now arresting more migrants who have no criminal records in what they call “collateral arrests.” A senior Trump administration official told NBC News nearly half of the 1,200 arrested on Sunday were not considered “criminal” arrests.