(SRN NEWS/AP/97.5 GLORY FM) – Federal authorities began rounding up immigrants in metro Atlanta Sunday as part of President Trump’s planned deportation of illegal immigrants in the country. The arrests followed widespread rumors around the country – many posted on social media including some in Gainesville last week – that the arrests had begun. Lilburn and Tucker were among the areas the agents – who even entered one church – targeted Sunday. Meanwhile, the arrests coincided with a rally in Gainesville Sunday which was held in support of immigrants
“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with federal partners, including the FBI, ATF, DEA, CBP and the U.S. Marshals Service, began conducting enhanced targeted operations today in Chicago to enforce U.S. immigration law and preserve public safety and national security by keeping potentially dangerous criminal aliens out of our communities,” ICE posted on its website Sunday.
Few details of the operation were immediately made public, including the number of arrests. But the sheer number of federal agencies involved showed President Donald Trump’s willingness to use federal law enforcement beyond the Department of Homeland Security to carry out his long-promised mass deportations, the Associated Press reported.
ICE said it made 956 arrests nationwide on Sunday and 286 on Saturday. While some of the operations may not have been unusual, ICE averaged 311 daily arrests in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.
Since Trump took office, similar immigration enforcement operations have been publicized around the country, which U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) says are ongoing. Social media posts from other DEA and Homeland Security offices noted additional weekend operations in at least Arizona, California, Colorado, Nebraska and Texas.
WSB-TV reported that agents made one arrest at a Tucker church Sunday.
Pastor Luis Ortiz says he was preaching when they knocked on the door, but, he said, they couldn’t get in because it was locked. They did show papers for an arrest, Ortiz continued, who added that the man they were looking for went outside and was taken away in handcuffs.
More on this story here: Top Trump administration officials in Chicago for start of immigration enforcement crackdown – SRN News
The mid-afternoon rally in Gainesville was organized as a peaceful protest to stand up for immigrants.
Organizers, in announcing it, declared “immigrants aren’t criminals. They are hard workers, dreamers, and part of what makes America great. Together we can show that this country is stronger when we stand united…let’s fight for freedom, justice, and the American dream for everyone!”
(Pictured: Atlanta area arrest. Courtesy DEA)