The Department of Homeland Security is knocking down a rumor that spread across social media Saturday night claiming ICE agents had been ordered to stop arresting illegal migrants who haven’t committed violent crimes.
“This is false,” DHS said in a statement issued just after midnight, adding: “No one is off the table. We will continue to arrest any and all illegal aliens that come into our path. Anyone in our country illegally will be arrested and deported.”
The agency said ICE has launched a nationwide public safety surge in sanctuary cities, with officers targeting criminal illegal aliens “many released from jails by sanctuary politicians” including murderers, rapists, child predators and gang members.
The rumor took off Saturday night amid growing pressure on the administration from the GOP’s pro-migration wing. Long-time Republican strategist Karl Rove criticized Trump’s immigration enforcement policy during a left-wing event held in Texas that same evening.
Reporter Traces the Confusion
Fox News reporter Bill Melugin worked through the weekend to run down what actually happened, speaking with President Trump and nine ICE and DHS sources.
I’ve spoken on the phone with President Trump and nine ICE & DHS sources about this today. Here’s what I’ve learned. Yes, this verbal guidance did go out to ICE offices across the country last night. I’ve spoken with ICE agents who received it & were shocked & frustrated by it. It’s unclear who it started with. However, I’m told it’s erroneous, was some type of “miscommunication” during conversations about prioritizing “worst first,” and there is no change in immigration enforcement policy.
Melugin said President Trump told him anyone in the country illegally remains “on the table” for ICE arrest and deportation, and that new guidance went out to ICE field offices Saturday night reaffirming that arrests of illegal aliens and “collaterals” without additional criminal history will continue. ICE sources confirmed to Melugin they received that new guidance.
I’m not really sure what happened here – but everyone is on the same page, including President Trump, in telling me that his immigration enforcement agenda isn’t scaling back.
The Bigger Picture
ICE is currently arresting roughly 50,000 migrants per month, and total deportations under the administration have likely topped 2 million. Officials are also trimming the use of white-collar visa workers, even as business pressure has pushed the administration to cut back ICE operations against employers who rely on mass low-wage illegal labor at hotels, restaurants, gas stations, retail stores and farms.
As the rumor spread online Saturday, President Trump used his social media account to criticize Rep. Maria Salazar, a GOP amnesty advocate who is working with pro-migration Republican legislators to push a corporate-backed immigration bill through the lame-duck session after the election.
