ICE chief confirms immigration roundups targeting families

President Trump recently promised a mass removal campaign.  Now, CBS News reports that the acting head of Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) has confirmed his agency is preparing for a new wave of roundups to apprehend and deport families with open orders of removal — an operation he said will send a “powerful message” of deterrence to people in Central America considering journeying north. 

Acting ICE director Mark Morgan did not provide a time frame for the operation. He signaled that ICE will ramp up efforts to find and remove people who failed to appear in immigration court.  Morgan stressed that his agency wants to uphold the values of “humanity, compassion and dignity” but that it was also critical to prevent what he portrayed as the erosion of the rule of law. “If you’re here illegally, then you should be removed,” Morgan said.

KJ