Trump administration launches immigration crackdown in Massachusetts, reports say

Audio By Carbonatix

Enlarge

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Trump administration has launched an operation in Massachusetts to arrest and deport undocumented immigrants, the New York Times and Boston media reported on Saturday, quoting the Department of Homeland Security as saying it was targeting “criminal aliens” living in the state.

DHS and its U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arm are calling the operation Patriot 2.0, modifying the name of a May deportation surge that led to the arrest of 1,500 people in the state, according to the reports.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The operation is expected to last several weeks, the New York Times said, quoting unnamed sources with knowledge of the matter. One of the sources told the Times that Patriot 2.0 was focused on targeting immigrants who had been released from custody despite ICE agents attempting to pick them up from local jails.

It was not immediately clear how many federal officers were involved in the crackdown, which comes as Chicago braces for a Trump administration ramp-up of deportations in the third-largest U.S. city.

NBC 10 Boston quoted a statement from a DHS spokesperson as deriding Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s so-called sanctuary policies.

“Sanctuary policies like those pushed by Mayor Wu not only attract and harbor criminals but also place these public safety threats above the interests of law-abiding American citizens. ICE is arresting sex offenders, pedophiles, murderers, drug dealers, and gang members released by local authorities,” the statement reported by NBC 10 said.

(Reporting by David Lawder, Editing by Nick Zieminski)