Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are planning a major enforcement operation that will target immigrants for several days after President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, according to a document reviewed by NBC News and a person familiar with planning.
The person, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the operation, said multiple locations in Chicago will be targeted.
According to the document, the operation is expected to begin on Tuesday and end the following Monday, but the dates could change.
ICE officials referred NBC News to Trump’s transition team for comment, and the transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to the document, a briefing for agents planning to participate in the operation, called “Operation Safeguard,” was scheduled for Friday afternoon in Chicago. It also says that the operation will involve officers who were asked to volunteer and that more officers than necessary have volunteered.
The Wall Street Journal first reported that the operation is expected to take place in Chicago.
Operations in other cities are also possible. Before NBC News reviewed the document, several sources familiar with the planning said major metropolitan areas that could see early enforcement actions include the Washington, D.C., area, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Denver and Chicago.
As a candidate, Trump promised the largest deportation operation in US history. A federal estimate for 2022 said up to 11 million undocumented immigrants were living in the United States, but the exact number is unknown today.
The American Immigration Council, a pro-immigration group, estimates that deporting them all could cost at least $315 billion. In addition to the costs, experts have warned that mass deportations could raise the price of some goods in the U.S. The federal government estimates that 40% of farm workers are undocumented immigrants.
ICE currently has a $230 million budget shortfall and does not have the funds to carry out Trump’s plans on a long, widespread scale. First, Congress should allocate additional funds for law enforcement operations and detention facilities.
After arrest, immigrants remain in detention before being deported. According to ICE’s website, there are currently no beds available at its detention centers in Chicago.
Tom Homan, Trump’s incoming border czar, has said he would like to have at least 100,000 detention beds across the United States; Currently, the United States has approximately 34,000. And the highest number of people deported in a single year during Trump’s first term was 267,000 in fiscal year 2019.
The Biden administration deported more people annually than the first Trump administration did in its first term. The largest number of people deported from the United States in a single year was 438,000 in fiscal year 2013 during the Obama administration.
Trump’s apparent plans to target Democratic-run cities will also likely face political pushback. Responding to reports that the new administration could begin deportation operations in Chicago, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said Friday that he will protect immigrants if they are illegally arrested.
“We have laws that protect undocumented people,” Pritzker said. “I’m going to make sure I follow the law. “I am concerned that the Trump administration and its lackeys are not following the law.”
Homan told NBC News that the new administration is willing to take on the political fight and fiscal costs of mass deportations. “I think mass deportation and the results of mass deportation are more important to this country than anything else,” he said. “I don’t put a price on our national security.”
