Johnson said the batch of deportees were among immigrants who crossed
the southern U.S. border illegally since May 2014. That's when the U.S.
began experiencing a surge of families and unaccompanied children from
El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. Officials say such crossings
decreased by early last year, but began to pick up again in recent
months. ...
The proposals to increase deportations appear to have stirred some
dissent within the Obama administration. Just before Christmas, unnamed
"people familiar with the operation" disclosed the plans to the Washington Post — a highly unusual leak about planned law enforcement actions. ...
Both Earnest and Johnson said DHS remains focused on deporting
"felons, not families" — a curious talking point given that families
were the targets of the weekend sweep. ...
Democrats in Congress — which is currently in recess — have been mostly quiet on the raids.
On the opposite end of the political spectrum, GOP poll leader Donald
Trump — whose candidacy has been characterized by hardline rhetoric
against immigrants here illegally — took credit for the raids in his
typical flair.
“Wow, because of the pressure put on by me, ICE TO LAUNCH LARGE SCALE DEPORTATION RAIDS,” Trump tweeted when news of the planned raids broke. “It's about time!”
The fact that Trump was proudly taking credit for the raids wasn’t
lost on advocates, who used that point to draw comparisons between the
real estate billionaire and Obama’s immigration policies."The president's actions are far more harmful than Trump's demagoguery,”
said Pablo Alvarado, the executive director of the National Day Laborer
Organizing Network. “While Trump's dangerous rhetoric stigmatizes our
loved ones, President Obama actually deports them.”
