More than 500 illegal migrants have been arrested and deported in a mass operation just days into Donald Trump’s second term as US president, his press secretary has announced.
“The Trump Administration arrested 538 illegal immigrant criminals,” Karoline Leavitt said in a post on social platform X, adding that “hundreds” were deported by military aircraft.
“Today the Trump administration arrested 538 illegal immigrant criminals including a suspected terrorist, four members of the Tren de Aragua gang, and several illegals convicted of sex crimes against minors,” she said.
“The largest massive deportation operation in history is well underway. Promises made. Promises kept,” she added.
Mr Trump promised a crackdown on illegal immigration during the election campaign and began his second term with a flurry of executive actions aimed at overhauling entry to the United States.
He has signed orders declaring a “national emergency” at the southern border and announced the deployment of more troops to the area while vowing to deport “criminal aliens”.
Ras J Baraka, mayor of Newark, said in a statement on Thursday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents had “raided a local establishment… detaining undocumented residents as well as citizens, without producing a warrant”.
Earlier in the week, the Republican-led US Congress passed a bill to expand pretrial incarceration for foreign criminal suspects.
Mr Trump plans send 10,000 troops to the country’s southern border to help repel an “invasion” of migrants attempting to cross from Mexico, according to a report.
The troops will assist immigration officers under new orders to seal the border and close off access to asylum, a US Customs and Border Protection (CPS) guidance document obtained by The Washington Post read.
The document was delivered to senior border officials on Tuesday as the new administration launched a “light speed” immigration crackdown it said would include finishing the construction of a southern border wall and deporting all 11 million people estimated to be living illegally in the United States.
