President Trump at the White House on Sunday. Photo: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
President Trump has ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to “expand efforts to detain and deport” undocumented immigrants in Democratic-run cities.
The big picture: Trump’s order comes as California’s Democratic leaders challenge him in the courts over his deployment of the state National Guard and U.S. Marines to ICE protests in Los Angeles — one of the cities he singled out in Sunday’s Truth Social post.
- It builds on the president’s April order directing federal agencies to document “sanctuary cities” that are not complying with his immigration agenda, when the White House said those that failed to do so “may lose federal funding” — prompting a coalition of 20 Democratic attorneys general to file lawsuits against the administration.
Driving the news: Trump wrote via Truth Social he’s ordering ICE officers to “do all in their power to achieve the very important goal of delivering the single largest Mass Deportation Program in History.”
- To achieve this, Trump wrote “we must expand efforts to detain and deport Illegal Aliens in America’s largest Cities, such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York, where Millions upon Millions of Illegal Aliens reside.”
- He added that these and other cities were the “core of the Democrat Power Center” as he echoed baseless claims he made during the 2024 presidential election about Democrats using undocumented immigrants to “cheat in Elections,” among other allegations that he did not provide evidence on.
What they’re saying: When asked for comment on Trump’s order, representatives for LA Mayor Karen Bass (D) pointed to comments she made on MSNBC before the announcement criticizing the administration for ICE raids for “creating a sense of fear” among major sectors of the city’s economy.
- “You really could destabilize the economy of Los Angeles,” she said.
- Her office did not immediately respond to Axios’ follow-up request on Sunday evening to comment specifically on Trump’s new order.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) said in a statement Monday that the Trump administration’s action “expanding deportations to hit arbitrary quotas are unconscionable,” adding that the move incites fear and causes “more problems than they solve.”
- The city “will continue to uphold the Welcoming City ordinance and the Illinois Trust Act, which ensures that our local law enforcement will not be used as federal immigration enforcement,” Johnson said.
- Representatives for the NYC mayors office did not immediately respond to Axios’ request for comment on Sunday evening.
State of play: Top Trump aide Stephen Miller and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem demanded late last month that ICE seek to arrest 3,000 people a day — triple what agents were arresting in the early days of the second administration.
- However, Trump acknowledged Thursday that his “very aggressive” immigration policies were ripping long-time workers from the farming and hospitality industries and moved to halt ICE raids on those working at hotels, farms, meatpacking plants and restaurants.
- The administration’s hardline immigration policy has triggered nationwide protests, and many of the millions at Saturday’s “No Kings” demonstrations that were held to counter the military parade Trump hosted on his birthday displayed signs that were critical of ICE raids.
Between the lines: An Axios analysis found that efforts to arrest and remove unauthorized immigrants already appear most aggressive in five southern states with Democratic-leaning cities, while deeply red, rural states are seeing less activity.
- The Axios review of removal orders, pending deportation cases and agreements between immigration officials and local law enforcement agencies sheds light on where the Trump administration is dispatching resources to support its mass deportation plan.
- The analysis shows local law enforcement agencies in Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia have been most cooperative with ICE through deals known as “287 (g)” agreements.
Yes, but: The data analyzed by Axios and the locations of the agreements between federal and local authorities reflect a few simple truths about immigration enforcement across the U.S.
- There aren’t nearly enough federal agents to meet Trump’s unprecedented deportation goal of deporting a million immigrants a year.
- In some places where the Trump administration faces a gap in resources, local law enforcement agencies are unable or unwilling to meet the feds’ demands or expand beyond their usual enforcement duties.
Go deeper: What to know about Trump’s “gold card”
Axios’ Carrie Shepherd contributed to this report.
