Washington
CNN
–
In the first weeks of the new Trump administration, the White House boasts about the arrests of thousands of undocumented immigrants. But behind the scenes, multiple sources familiar with the debate have expressed their dissatisfaction with the tense customs enforcement agency.
“They’re stepping on the water. Trump administration officials told CNN, referring to the ice. The call includes Stephen Miller, Deputy Chief of Staff Director of the White House and Tom Homan of the Border Border Area. and Homeland Security Secretary Christie Noem and various federal agencies involved in enforcement efforts.
“It’s not beautiful,” the official said about the phone.
President Donald Trump has made his second term on the ambitious immigration agenda, pledging millions of undocumented immigrants to rob the borders and blocking borders in the southern United States. Since then, Trump administration officials have moved swiftly to strip temporary protections for immigration and delegate more powers to federal and state partners.
Since Trump took office, more than 8,000 people have been arrested by federal immigration authorities. Executives don’t exactly share the number of undocumented immigrants they are aiming to arrest this year, but daily anxiety has already surpassed last year’s daily average under President Joe Biden.
Trump administration officials are weighing the slate of new immigration measures, including borrowing ideas from Texas, including adding buoys to the Rio Grande and evaluating more military bases to house immigrants. Masu. They also discussed plans to send immigrants from Africa to another country, similar to the Salvador agreement to bring Salvador immigrants from other countries, according to two sources familiar with the plan. It’s there.
But Trump’s stated goals meet the earthly reality and challenges that have been stalling federal immigration enforcement agencies for years.
White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt confirmed Wednesday that 461 migrants detained in a wave of arrests have been released on several reasons, including lack of detention space.
“We’ll meet with ICE leadership today to find out exactly who was released and why,” Homan told reporters Thursday.
Asked if the ice was doing enough, he said: “They do a great job. They had to do more.”
Sources explained that they put a lot of pressure on ice officials to provide results, including strengthening efforts to target and detain undocumented immigrants with criminal records. I did. Miller previously described the Ice Field Office quota as “floor, not ceiling.”
“We have to do it. It’s not just leadership. The expectation is that every officer there is giving 100%,” another Trump administration official said.
In a statement criticizing the Biden administration, White House spokesman Kush Desai said “The Trump administration has reestablished nonsense enforcement and respect for U.S. immigration law.”
“Since President Trump took office, hundreds of violent, predatory, gang-affiliated criminal aliens have already been rounded up and deported by ICE. The Trump administration has been It is in line with securing borders and ensuring mass deportations are made quickly and effectively. Put Americans and America first,” he said.
CNN reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment.
Leavitt told Fox News on Thursday that Trump is “very happy” with Homan, Miller and Noem.
“But as I said before, we are not satisfied. The President made this very bold promise to the American people. An illegal criminal from the American community,” she added. .
The White House and Ice splashed multiple photos and videos of social media enforcement actions, among several other federal agencies, in a PR blitz that demonstrates the administration’s push to implement Trump’s pledge. Ta.
Deported flights remain at a pace, despite the rise in arrests, as they did a few weeks before Trump took office.
The administration mobilized a wide range of federal governments to arrest and detain undocumented immigrants, but the challenges remain.
Ice faces multiple challenges. The agency has limited resources and personnel and has had to adapt to the sudden shift from Biden’s enforcement stance to Trump’s, sources said.
The agency is currently funded for around 40,000 detention beds and has around 6,000 immigration enforcement officers. As of Wednesday, ICE was operating above capacity, accounting for around 108% of the time, with around 42,000 people in detention, according to internal government statistics reviewed by CNN.
A senior Trump official called on Congress to provide additional funding and cited Guantanamo Bay as part of a solution to expand the space. Plans and construction are already underway to set up tents to temporarily hold 30,000 migrants, and this is expected to take weeks. Guantanamo Bay already has an immigration processing centre.
At the request of the Department of Homeland Security, Buckley Space Military Base in Colorado is expected to be used to set up and handle immigrants. The facility is ice-fed, among other institutions. Military bases in Arizona, Kansas, Kansas and Texas also float as potential locations to temporarily hold people, according to familiar sources.
The use of custody of border patrols remains a possibility given the small number of border intersections, but it is unclear whether the administration will rely on it.
