U.S. authorities arrested 538 immigrants and deported hundreds more in a major operation just days into President Donald Trump’s second administration, his press secretary said late Thursday.
“The Trump administration arrested 538 illegal immigrant criminals,” Carolyn Levitt said in a post on social platform X, adding that “hundreds” were deported by military aircraft.
“The greatest [mass] Deportation proceedings are well underway in history. Made promises. Keep your promises,” he said.
Trump promised a crackdown on illegal immigration on the campaign trail and began his second term with executive actions aimed at restoring entry to the United States.
Newark City Mayor Ross J. Baraka said in a statement Thursday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents “raided a local facility … detaining undocumented residents and citizens without a warrant.”
The mayor said that one of the people detained during the raid was a US military veteran, “this heinous act in flagrant violation of the US Constitution”.
An ICE post on X said: “Enforcement Update … 538 Arrests, 373 Detained”.
Senators Cory Booker and Andy Kim, Democrats of New Jersey, said they were “deeply concerned” about the Newark raid by immigration agents.
“Actions like this sow fear in all our communities — and our broken immigration system needs solutions, not fear tactics,” they said in a joint statement.
Trump has vowed to launch “the largest deportation operation in American history,” which would affect an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States.
On his first day in office, he signed orders declaring a “state of national emergency” on the southern border and vowing to deport “criminal aliens” and deploying more troops to the region.
His administration said it would also restore the “remain in Mexico” policy that was in place during Trump’s first presidency, under which people who apply to enter the United States from Mexico would have their Must remain there until the application is decided.
The White House has also suspended an asylum program for people fleeing authoritarian regimes in Central and South America, leaving thousands stranded at the Mexican border.
Earlier in the week, the Republican-led US Congress green-lighted a bill to extend pretrial detention for foreign criminals.
Trump often painted a dark picture of how illegal immigration was “poisoning the blood” of the nation, words that opponents called reminiscent of Nazi Germany.
