Chicago leaders helped slow ICE roundup that netted 35 arrests out of 2,100 sought

WASHINGTON - An immigration enforcement operation that President Donald Trump said was part of an effort to deport "millions" of people from the United States resulted in 35 arrests, officials said Tuesday, in part because of efforts to block the arrests, such as in Chicago.

Trump billed the operation as a major show of force as the number of Central American families crossing the southern border has skyrocketed. Of about 1 million people in the U.S. with final deportation orders, the operation targeted 2,100.

Of those arrested, 18 were members of families and 17 were collateral apprehensions of people in the country illegally and encountered by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. None of those arrested resulted in the separation of family, officials said.

While the effort was demonized by Democrats as a full-force drive to deport families, career ICE officers described it as a routine operation, one expected to net an average of about 10% to 20% of targets.

A separate nationwide enforcement operation targeting immigrants here illegally who had criminal convictions or charges netted 899 arrests. And officers handed out 3,282 notices of inspection to businesses that may be employing people here illegally.

Acting ICE director Matthew Albence said the operations would be ongoing, stressing the importance of enforcement. "Part of the way you stop people from coming is having a consequence to the illegal activity when you do come," he said.

Albence conceded the number was lower than previous operations' results. A similar operation in August 2017 netted 650 arrests over four days, including 73 family members and 120 who entered illegally as children. There were 457 others encountered during this operation also arrested.

Immigrant rights activists nationwide had the rare advantage of knowing when to expect increased immigration enforcement, and they pushed "know-your-rights" campaigns hard.

Any hint of ICE activity, including false alarms, brought out dozens of activists to investigate in several cities. In Chicago, even city officials got involved.

Two city aldermen started "bike brigades," patrolling immigrant-heavy neighborhoods to look for ICE agents and warn others. Another, Alderman Andre Vasquez, sought volunteers on Facebook to serve as "ICEbreakers." Over the weekend, it was standing-room-only at his ward office as volunteers walked the neighborhood handing out know-your-rights cards and recruited businesses to be on the lookout.

"We were seeing concern and people starting to panic," Vasquez said. "We want to live in the kind of environment where we never have to worry about ICE and raids."

Advocates also said many immigrants simply stayed home.

During the first weekend the raids were supposed to start, some immigrant-heavy churches had noticeably lower attendance and attributed the fear of stepped up enforcement. Businesses in immigrant-heavy neighborhoods, including in Chicago, Atlanta and Miami, also reported very light traffic.

Those arrested were awaiting deportation. During the budget year 2018, there were about 256,086 people deported, an increase of 13%. The Obama administration deported 409,849 people in 2012's budget year