ICE has begun raids to round up undocumented immigrants, official says

By Eliott C. McLaughlin, CNN
Updated 1804 GMT (0204 HKT) July 14, 2019

Washington (CNN) — Immigration authorities have begun conducting raids, a senior administration official said Sunday, in an operation expected to target about 2,000 undocumented immigrants ordered by courts to be removed from the country.

The raids, which will focus on recent arrivals to the country, are slated for Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York and San Francisco, a senior immigration official said. New Orleans is also on the list, but the city tweeted last week that US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement said it would suspend operations through the weekend in areas hit by Tropical Storm Barry.

Acting US Citizenship and Immigration Services director Ken Cuccinelli took issue with referring to the targets of the raids as undocumented.

"They're not undocumented. They've got a court order on a piece of paper -- federal order -- that says they've gotten due process, and (there are) over a million people with removal orders. That's the pool that ICE is drawing from," he told CNN.

ICE will not comment on operational details of the raids, Cuccinelli said, adding that the priority will be apprehending violent criminals and aggravated felons. ICE agents are not "utilizing" allegations of crossing the border illegally, a misdemeanor, as cause for arrest in the raids, he said.

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