President-elect Donald Trump’s administration plans to launch a massive immigration raid in Chicago the day after he takes office, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing four people familiar with the plan.
The search is scheduled to begin on Tuesday and continue through this week, the paper said, adding that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) will deploy 100 to 200 officers to carry out the operation.
President Trump’s transition team did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment. But people familiar with the incoming administration’s plans said Ice would increase enforcement across the country, with no special focus or surge in personnel in Chicago.
“We will conduct operations across the country,” the official said. “There’s going to be arrests in New York. There’s going to be arrests in Miami.”
Trump’s next border czar, Tom Homan, said at an event in Chicago that his administration “starts right here in Chicago, Illinois,” the newspaper reported.
“And if the mayor of Chicago doesn’t want to help, he can stand down. But if he interferes with us, or knowingly harbors or hides illegal aliens, then I will remove him. We will prosecute,” he reportedly said.
Immigration has been a central focus of Trump’s campaign in the lead-up to the Nov. 5 presidential election.
In January 2024, President Trump said, “Immediately after taking office, I will begin the largest domestic deportation operation in U.S. history.”
Reuters reports that President Trump has mobilized agencies across the U.S. government to deport record numbers of immigrants, using all available resources and cooperating with so-called “sanctuary” jurisdictions. The move is expected to further intensify the president’s efforts during his first term to apply pressure.
