A meeting last month between federal immigration officials and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller likely prompted the immigration sweeps in Los Angeles on Friday.
According to the Washington Examiner, Miller called an emergency meeting with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s top 50 field heads in Washington, D.C., berating them for the agency’s arrest and deportation numbers. Miller told agents that criminals — or the “worst of the worst” — needn’t be ICE’s sole targets. Instead, he told them to “just go out there and arrest illegal aliens,” the Wall Street Journal reported.
Miller directed agents to target Home Depot, where day laborers often gather to find work. Miller’s directive seems to have led to the immigration sweeps in Los Angeles on Friday when ICE agents arrived at a Home Depot driving a white van. Friday’s operation prompted protests in Los Angeles that continued into Monday.
In response to the protests, President Donald Trump mobilized 2,000 National Guard troops to the city on Saturday and around 700 Marines to the area on Monday.
The Trump administration has set a goal of one million deportations for Trump’s first year in office. Miller previously told Fox News’ Sean Hannity: “Under President Trump’s leadership, we are looking to set a goal of a minimum of 3,000 arrests for ICE every day, and President Trump is going to keep pushing to get that number up higher each and every single day."
