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ICE requests redeployment of 500 HSI agents to increase arrests and surveillance in sanctuary cities

  1. Original Date Announced

    March 6, 2020

    ICE has reportedly requested over 500 HSI special agents to send to sanctuary cities across the U.S. to conduct surveillance and increase arrests of undocumented immigrants in Boston, New York, Detroit, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta, New Orleans and Newark.

    These HSI special agents normally conduct long-term investigations but are targeted at sanctuary cities, according to an internal email.

    The request follows an earlier decision, made public last month, to deploy elite tactical BORTAC agents — immigration SWAT teams that are normally assigned to risky border smuggling, rescue and intelligence operations — to help arrest and deport immigrants in sanctuary cities. [ID #453]

    NY Times: ‘Flood the Streets’: ICE Targets Sanctuary Cities With Increased Surveillance

Current Status

Not in effect

Original Trump Policy Status

Status: Reported
Trump Administration Action: Change in Practice
Agencies Affected: ICE CBP EOIR

Pre Trump-Era Policies

  • September 28, 2017

    The expanded surveillance operations and added manpower are the latest intensification of a conflict between the Trump administration and cities that refuse to help with deportations, including Boston, New York, Detroit, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta, New Orleans and Newark. Previous analysis by the Migration Policy Institute notes that ICE's Operation Safe City made arrests in jurisdictions that have limited-cooperation policies. In September 2017 Operation Safe City, ICE made 498 arrests in Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Jose, Seattle, and Washington, DC.

    ICE News Release: ICE arrests over 450 on federal immigration charges during 'Operation Safe City'

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