The Trump administration’s large-scale deportation operation expanded into Los Angeles on Saturday, with pre-dawn raids kicking off a West Coast push expected to run daily, sources told The Post.
According to sources, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents steered clear of areas heavily affected by wildfires in Southern California while conducting the roundups.
This latest crackdown, part of Trump’s campaign promise to target large U.S. cities, has been primarily focused on deporting migrants with criminal records, sources said.
With Los Angeles now a focal point, ICE agents and other federal law enforcement are expected to rack up significant overtime to accelerate the deportation process.
Details on the LA raids remained scarce as of Saturday afternoon, but sources confirmed that migrants arrested were being held at ICE detention centers in California, awaiting deportation.
Officials anticipate rapidly filling detention centers and are actively seeking additional space to house detainees, sources added.
Meanwhile, ICE operations have also been spotted in other states. In West New York, NJ, agents were seen arresting a Hispanic male and loading him into a van without questioning, The Hudson Post reported.
Under executive orders signed by Trump, immigration agents now face fewer restrictions when conducting raids. The new orders eliminate bans on targeting courthouses, churches, and other traditional “safe zones” where undocumented migrants have historically sought refuge.
Additionally, the White House plans to deploy military aircraft daily to transport detained migrants, in what Trump and "border czar" Tom Homan have described as the largest deportation operation in U.S. history, according to ABC News.
On Friday, ICE reported:
As of 4 p.m. on Saturday, the total number of new arrests remained unclear, but ICE released names of high-profile detainees picked up in previous days:
Images surfaced on Saturday showing Brazilian migrants being deported under Trump’s policy, boarding a Brazilian Air Force flight to Belo Horizonte.
With raids intensifying nationwide, the administration's mass deportation effort is moving full speed ahead.
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