ICE plans major crackdown in Chicago after Trump inauguration

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are planning a major crackdown that will target immigrants for several days after President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, according to a document reviewed by NBC News and a person familiar with the plan.

The person, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the operation, said several locations in Chicago would be targeted.

According to the document, the operation should start on Tuesday and end the following Monday, but the dates could change.

ICE officials referred NBC News to the Trump transition team for comment, and the The transition team did not respond. In an exclusive interview with NBC News’ Kristen Welker on Saturday, Trump declined to describe details of the operation but said mass deportations would begin “very soon, very quickly.”

“We are already ready and it will begin,” he said. “We must drive criminals who came here illegally out of our country. »

A briefing for agents planning to participate in the operation, dubbed “Operation Safeguard,” was scheduled for Friday afternoon in Chicago, according to the document. It also says the operation will involve officers who have been asked to volunteer and that more officers than necessary have volunteered.

The Wall Street Journal first reported that the operation is expected to take place in Chicago.

Operations in other cities are also possible. Before NBC News reviewed the document, several sources close to the project said that major metropolitan areas that could be subject to early enforcement actions include the Washington, D.C. area, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Denver and Chicago .

As a candidate, Trump promised the largest deportation operation in American history. A 2022 federal estimate indicated that up to 11 million undocumented migrants lived in the United States, but the exact number is now unknown.

The American Immigration Council, a pro-immigration group, estimates that their deportation could cost at least $315 billion. Aside from costs, experts have warned that mass expulsions could increase the price of some products in the United States. The federal government estimates that 40% of agricultural workers are undocumented immigrants.

ICE is currently running a $230 million budget deficit and does not have the funds to carry out Trump’s plans on a prolonged and widespread scale. Congress must first allocate additional funds for law enforcement operations and detention centers.

After their arrest, migrants are detained before being deported. According to ICE’s website, no beds are currently available in its detention centers in Chicago.

Tom Homan, Trump’s new border czar, has said he would like to have at least 100,000 detention beds across the United States; currently, the United States has about 34,000. And the highest number of people deported in a single year during Trump’s first term was 267,000 in fiscal year 2019.

The Biden administration has deported more people each year than the first Trump administration did during its first term. The highest number of people deported from the United States in a single year was 438,000 in fiscal year 2013, during the Obama administration.

Trump’s apparent plans to target Democratic-led cities will also likely face political retaliation. In response to reports that the new administration could launch deportation operations in Chicago, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said Friday he would protect migrants if they were arrested illegally.

“We have laws that protect undocumented people,” Pritzker said. “I will make sure to respect the law. I fear that the Trump administration and its lackeys are not following the law.”

Homan told NBC News the new administration was prepared to take on the political fight and bear the fiscal costs of mass evictions. “I think the mass expulsions and their results are more important to this country than anything,” he said. “I don’t put a price on our national security.”