Washington (AP) – President Donald Trump portrayed His federal law enforcement surge in Washington It focuses on dealing with crime. However, federal operations data analyzed by the Associated Press show that over 40% of arrests made during the month of operations were in fact related to immigration.
The findings highlight that in the country’s capital, the administration has continued to advance its tough immigration agenda.
The Trump administration has claimed success in the federal takeover of DC, which has led to more than 2,300 arrests, including more than 12 suspected murders, 20 gang members and hundreds of people accused of drugs and gun crimes. Authorities said more than 220 illegal guns were taken from the streets.
But what stands out in immigrant arrests – over 940 people have encouraged criticism that the true purpose of the operation may have been to expand deportation. To critics, the effort appears to be a one-off push to crime in the capital than an emphasis on violent crime in other cities led by the Democratic mayor, a familiar political playbook Trump turned to during his 2020 campaign, and a model of federal intervention or a review of violent crime.
already, Chicago officialsThe long foil for the regime’s law and order rhetoric was decorated for the influx of immigrant agents and possibly National Guard. Trump himself incited speculation over the weekend, posting parody images from “Apocalypse Now” on social media, with helicopters looming in Chicago, captioning: “I love the smell of morning deportation.”
It is unknown how many people faced nonimmigration fees.
The administration has repeatedly argued that deportation is inseparable from reducing crime, and has often cast people arrested by immigration authorities as “the worst and worst.” Still, it remains unknown how many of those detained in Washington have other charges pending.
In a statement, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said many people have prior arrests, convictions or unsolved warrants for crimes such as assault, drug possession, or child sexual abuse without specifying numbers.
“Law enforcement has done a prominent job of removing these threats from the DC community. The focus of this business is stopping violent crimes committed by everyone, regardless of the immigration situation,” Jackson said in an email.
The internal law enforcement report obtained by the Associated Press provides partial images. Over the course of more than 10 days sampled during the surge, approximately 22% of people arrested for immigration violations had criminal records including driving while drunk, possessing drugs, grand theft, and robbery. That sample accounts for a third of the total period. The numbers for other days were not immediately available.
Trump’s DC operation was launched to deal with a “crime emergency.”
Emergency orders are set to expire
On August 11th, Trump summoned Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rules Act With an executive order declaring a “crime emergency” so that his administration can take over the city’s police. That order is set to expire overnight on Wednesday. He signed an order from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegses to revitalize the remaining National Guard in the city along with other federal agents.
Immigration enforcement agents have been part of the operation from the start, but Trump wants to deal with the city’s crime rates. Congress expired the emergency order on Wednesday, but National Guard troops are expected to remain deployed within the city.
Just days after the president declared a criminal emergency, Attorney General Pam Bondy ordered city officials to revoke the district’s “sanctuary policy,” signaling the administration’s efforts to focus on immigration enforcement of businesses. Sanctuary policies generally limit local law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration officials.
After the lawsuit by DC officials, the administration agreed to entrust the city’s police chief with control of the department, but Bondi, a new memo, directed police to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement, regardless of city law.
Last month, in Bondi’s order on “restoring safety and security” to the country’s capital, she wrote that the dangers raised by violent crimes in the city “have staked the district’s sanctuary urban policy.” She added: “The spread of illegal foreigners to our country during previous administrations, including in our country’s capital, poses extreme public safety and national security risks to our country.”
Peer-reviewed academic research is commonly discovered There are no links between immigrants Additionally, violent crimes vary depending on the data investigated, but the conclusions differ.
Immigrants felt clampdown through the surge
Immigration and Customs Enforcement made immigration-related arrests in the Washington area before the operation began. However, since the launch of the operation on August 11th, the agency’s presence has been much more prominent. Activists in the city respond, often promoting them in social media locations where ice is being watched, and sharing videos of agents arresting people.
Immigrants worried about checkpoints and arrests are fiercely sharing information among messaging apps about streets to avoid. Activists also stepped in to get food to migrants, fearing they would leave their homes, as federal officials risked a surge in cities.
In a social media post, the Department of Homeland Security said it highlighted the number of people arrested for immigration violations as part of the Trump administration’s violent crime operations in DC in such a post.
“DHS will support the reestablishment of DC’s law, order and public safety, including taking drug dealers, gang members and criminal foreigners from the streets of the city,” the department said.
