Crackdown on immigrant families to start Sunday, Trump says

Reporters taken inside

Trump sent Vice President Mike Pence to visit some of the criticized detention facilities in McAllen, Texas, on Friday along with journalists, who have generally been denied access to detained immigrants.

Reporters who joined the tour saw immigrants, including children, lying on mats on the floor covered with thin aluminum blankets. A few toys lay about, and some watched television.

The Trump administration has increased pressure on the governments of Mexico and several Central American countries to stem the flow of migrants reaching the US border.

Trump is to meet with Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales at the White House on Monday for talks on immigration and security. Morales may sign an agreement with Trump declaring Guatemala a safe destination for asylum seekers, which could prevent many from applying in the United States, according to officials in both governments.

Alongside these international efforts, Trump has sought to deter border crossings with highly publicized crackdowns in the United States.

The operation that Trump said would start on Sunday is an example. ICE is expected to target families whose immigration cases were handled through an expedited court process that began in 2018.

The agency has notified about 2,000 of those people that they face deportation because they failed to appear in court, acting ICE Director Mark Morgan said last month.

Immigration rights activists have complained that in many cases immigrants, especially those involved in expedited hearings, do not receive proper notice of their court dates.

ICE has declined to discuss the weekend's operation, including whether those families are among those being targeted.

The American Civil Liberties Union and other civil rights groups sued this week to stop the arrests going ahead, asking a court to prevent the deportation of asylum-seeking families who missed their court dates until they at least get a hearing.

Reuters