The Trump administration will enact a large-scale raid targeting illegal immigration the day it enters office, the incoming border czar Tom Homan has said.
Homan's comments to Fox News follow a report in The Wall Street Journal in which unnamed sources said that there would be a large-scale raid in Chicago targeting those with criminal backgrounds the day after Donald Trump's inauguration.
Newsweek has contacted the Trump transition team for comment.
Why it matters
Trump has said that an aggressive deportation effort is required as soon he enters office after an estimated eight million migrants entered the U.S. illegally during the Biden administration. Such policies could send shock waves across the economy and face considerable pushback.
What to know
Homan, who was acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during Trump's first term, told Fox News the incoming administration is eyeing the arrests of illegal immigrants straight after the inauguration.
When asked about reports that there would be a large raid on Chicago the next day, Homan said that the city will be one of many to be targeted by ICE across the country and with 24 field offices in the U.S. it would go out to arrest "criminal aliens."
He said that ICE is going to enforce U.S. immigration law "without apology" and that initial focus would be on those deemed a public safety risk "but no one is off the table."
Citing sources familiar with the talks, The Wall Street Journal said the Trump administration is discussing how to pay for mass deportations and a national emergency declaration in which military assets are used to remove migrants.
One option is declaring a national emergency at the border which could move money from the Pentagon to pay for wall construction and assist with immigrant detention and deportation, although it is unclear if this is legal.
A national emergency could also enable military bases to be used for immigrant detention and military planes to help carry out deportations.
The Trump team is also considering revoking a Biden administration policy that directed ICE not to pursue immigrants who had not committed other crimes.
Prioritized would be the around 1.3 million immigrants who have received final orders of deportation and those with other criminal convictions or charges.
What people are saying
Incoming border czar Tom Homan told Fox News: "There's going to be a big raid across the country. Chicago is just one of many places.....ICE is finally going to go out and do their job. We're going to take the handcuffs off ICE and let them go arrest criminal aliens."
Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for the Trump transition team told the WSJ: "The American people reelected President Trump by a resounding margin, giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail."
What happens next
The Trump administration is expected to receive pushback from "sanctuary" cities which do not allow state and local law enforcement to honor ICE detainers, Fox News reported.
Some Democratic officials in Chicago, Arizona and Massachusetts have said they will not cooperate with the Trump administration.
There are also question marks over cost, with one estimate by the American Immigration Council of a $968 billion price tag in a decade, or $88 billion a year.
But the WSJ reported that after election gains, GOP lawmakers may use the process of reconciliation in which only a simply majority vote is needed, to advance legislation that funds Trump's immigration proposals.
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