ICE planning to ramp up arrests in major U.S. cities after Trump takes office, sources say

Washington — The incoming Trump administration is planning to ramp up operations to arrest unauthorized immigrants across major U.S. cities next week after President-elect Donald Trump takes office, targeting “sanctuary” jurisdictions that limit cooperation with federal immigration officials, two sources familiar with the plans tell CBS News.

The locations expected to be targeted by deportation teams from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement include those with large populations of immigrants, such as the Chicago area, one of the sources said.

Asked on Fox News about a potential ICE operation in Chicago next week — a plan first reported by The Wall Street Journal — incoming White House “border czar” Tom Homan said “there’s gonna be a big raid all across the country.”

Trump has promised to stage a sweeping crackdown on illegal immigration immediately after being sworn in, pledging to oversee the largest deportation effort in U.S. history.

The incoming administration is expected to quickly undo Biden administration rules that limit who ICE agents should prioritize for arrest and deportation, making most of those in the U.S. illegally subject to being detained and removed from the country. The Biden-era rules generally limited ICE enforcement to serious criminals, recent border-crossers and national security threats, largely shielding long-standing undocumented immigrants without criminal histories from deportation.

Homan has also pledged to reinstate large-scale immigration arrests at worksites that hire workers living in the country unlawfully, a practice that was discontinued by the Biden administration.

While Homan has said the incoming administration will still prioritize unauthorized immigrants with criminal records for arrest, he has stressed that no one in the country unlawfully will be exempted from immigration enforcement. If ICE agents find unauthorized immigrants who are not criminals during operations, they could be arrested in what are known as “collateral arrests,” Homan has said.  

contributed to this report.