An immigration enforcement operation that President Donald Trump called an effort to deport "millions" of immigrants from the United States resulted in only 35 arrests, officials said Tuesday.
The enforcement actions, dubbed "Operation Border Resolve" by the Trump administration, were touted as a significant show of force against a recent influx of Central American families crossing the border. The operation targeted 2,100 of the roughly 1 million people in the U.S. with final deportation orders.
Of those arrested, 18 were members of families and 17 were collateral apprehensions of people in the country illegally who were encountered by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. None of those arrests resulted in family separations, agency officials said.
The raids were condemned by Democrats and lauded by Republicans. But, career ICE agents described them as a routine procedure, saying that they expected to net an average of 10 to 20% of their targets.
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"We are focused on criminals as much as we can before we do anything else," Trump said ahead of the raids.
ICE also conducted a separate nationwide enforcement operation targeting undocumented immigrants who had criminal convictions or charges. That operation netted 899 arrests between May 13 and July 11, according to agency officials.
The agency also issued 3,282 notices of inspection to businesses in all 50 states and Puerto Rico, telling business owners that their hiring records would be audited to see if they are employing undocumented immigrants.
This process, sometimes called "silent raids," are intended to "reduce economic opportunities" for immigrants, according to acting ICE director Matthew Albence.
