The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has significantly increased arrests in recent days, following a Supreme Court ruling that dealt a blow to the Trump administration's efforts to curb immigration policy.
According to figures obtained from a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) source, more than 10,000 arrests have been made in the last five days alone, marking a substantial escalation of ICE operations.
The Supreme Court's decision on Tuesday upheld the long-standing policy of automatic citizenship for children born in the U.S., even if their parents are living in the country illegally, citing the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution as the basis for the ruling.
ICE is currently ramping up operations using funds from a recent legislative package, as the passage of the bill nears its one-year anniversary.
President Trump has responded to the ruling by urging Congress to amend the Constitution to pave a path to abolishing birthright citizenship, stating that no long and unwieldy amendment is necessary and that Congress should work to end the policy immediately.
As ICE seeks to increase arrests, agitators across the country have been mobilizing, demanding better living conditions for those detained in federal facilities and calling for reforms to ICE operational protocols.
Violent clashes between rioters and ICE agents have occurred in some areas, including a recent incident at the Delaney Hall ICE facility in Newark, New Jersey, where a number of groups were involved in the protests.
While the protests may have appeared to be a spontaneous grassroots uprising, a closer examination reveals that they were the product of years of coordinated planning by a network of well-funded, highly organized groups.
These groups, which include some big names, report collective annual revenues of about $825 million, approximately equal to the annual budget of Newark.
Despite the organized resistance, ICE operations continued, with DHS Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis stating that a majority of arrests involve illegal migrants who have previously been charged or convicted of a crime.
According to Bis, nearly 70% of ICE arrests are of illegal aliens charged or convicted of a crime in the U.S., with more than 3 million illegal aliens currently out of the country.
The agency's message is clear: if you come to our country illegally, we will find you, we will arrest you, and we will deport you.
