Hundreds of immigrants in the United States were arrested on Thursday and some were taken out of the country on military aircraft, the White House said, as US President Donald Trump launched a mass deportation campaign.
The news of the arrests of the immigrants came as President Trump was preparing to make his first visit to California and North Carolina on Friday. White House Press Secretary Carolyn Levitt said the Trump administration arrested 538 illegal immigrant criminals on Thursday and deported hundreds more via military aircraft.
“The largest deportation campaign in history is underway,” she wrote on social media X. Trump promised to crack down on illegal immigration during his campaign and this week, he included it in an executive order aimed at improving entry into the United States, beginning his second term.
“The largest deportation campaign in history is underway,” she wrote on social media X. Trump promised to crack down on illegal immigration during his campaign and this week, he included it in an executive order aimed at improving entry into the United States, beginning his second term.
On the second day of his first week as president, Trump said in an interview with Fox News, “Despite his repeated promises to hit America’s biggest economic rival (China) with heavy import tariffs, there will be no immediate tariff hikes on China.” He said he had met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un three times before and called him a “smart man.”
On his first day in office, President Trump signed an executive order declaring a “national emergency” at the southern border, declaring migrants “criminal aliens” and promising to deport them. There are an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States.
On Thursday, Democratic Mayor Ras Baraka of Newark, New Jersey, issued a statement saying that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents “raided a local establishment and detained an undocumented or illegally-documented alien resident.” According to Baraka, one of those arrested during the raid was a former US Army soldier.
ICE’s updated report on X reported that ‘538 people were arrested and 373 were detained.’ ICE detains non-citizens who have been arrested on criminal charges and who are subject to deportation under U.S. law.
