(NewsNation) — Cities like Chicago and Boston remain center stage for increased immigration enforcement operations beginning this week, but Department of Homeland Security sources tell NewsNation that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is “everywhere” as the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration continues.
White House border czar Tom Homan said Sunday cities led by Democrats across the country can “absolutely” expect to see ramp-ups in ICE activity in the coming days. In Chicago, city leaders have been bracing for increased ICE activity for more than a week, and Monday, DHS officials announced that it would begin “Operation Midway Blitz” in honor of an Illinois woman who was killed in a hit-and-run accident involving an immigrant in the U.S. illegally, officials said.
“This ICE operation will target the criminal illegal aliens who flocked to Chicago and Illinois because they knew Governor (JB) Pritzker and his sanctuary policies would protect them and allow them to roam free on American streets,” DHS officials wrote in a social media post announcing the operation.
Meanwhile, in Boston, ICE launched Patriot 2.0 last week, with more than 300 arrests being made since Thursday, NewsNation previously reported.
Although ICE is conducting operations all over the nation, sources told NewsNation that the highest concentration of officers and agency officials is in Chicago and Boston along with Washington, D.C., where President Donald Trump has continued to credit the presence of National Guard troops for drops in crime since troops have been patrolling the streets.
In Boston, ICE launched Patriot 2.0 to target what the Trump administration has characterized as “the worst of the worst.” The Trump administration has criticized leaders like Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, saying that “sanctuary” policies only attack and harbor dangerous migrants who have either been convicted of serious crimes, face pending criminal charges or have previously been ordered to leave the country but have not.
The crackdown in Boston comes months after ICE launched Operation Patriot in the spring. On Sunday, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, a Democrat, dismissed the effort as nothing more than an effort by the Trump administration to create chaos.
“What we have seen from ICE and from the administration really isn’t about public safety, it’s about political theater,” Healey said. “It’s about a political power grab and an attempt to intimidate.”
ICE officials say they are targeting sex offenders, murderers, gang members and drug and human traffickers who the agency said have been permitted to be released thanks to policies in place in cities led by Democrats.
“I mean, all these sanctuary cities that refuse to work with ICE, where we know public safety threats are being released every day into this country, especially those cities, we’re going to address that,” Homan said recently, adding New York, Los Angeles, Portland and Seattle to the list of cities ICE will focus on.
The increased enforcement efforts come on the heels of a raid of a Georgia Hyundai battery plant, where 475 workers were detained by ICE last week. The raid led to a record number of arrests being made for a single-site immigration enforcement operation.
The workers were all South Korean nationals who, officials said, either entered the United States illegally or had overstayed visas provided to them.
ICE officials said that of those being detained, 300 workers will be sent back to their home country. Hyundai representatives said none of those detained were directly employed by the company, and it has zero tolerance for those who don’t follow the law.
Others arrested were from Guatemala, Colombia, Chile, Mexico, Ecuador and Venezuela, according to an immigration advocate who spoke just moments ago in response to the raid.