Trump delays plan for huge immigration enforcement raids and deportation of migrants

President announces two-week respite ‘at request of Democrats’

Donald Trump has delayed plans for immigration enforcement raids on 10 cities and mass deportations of migrants.

He tweeted on Saturday: “At the request of Democrats, I have delayed the Illegal Immigration Removal Process (Deportation) for two weeks to see if the Democrats and Republicans can get together and work out a solution to the Asylum and Loophole problems at the Southern Border. If not, Deportations start!”

Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were set to deport up to 2,000 migrant families in 10 major cities who had missed a court date or had been served deportation orders.

The planned move was opposed by Democrats including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who has previously called ICE facilities where detained migrants, including children, are held, “concentration camps”.

A recent watchdog report found some detention centres serving spoiled food, among other “egregious violations” of standards.

Three administration officials told reporters that the operation had been cancelled because details had leaked in the press, and the safety of ICE officers could be compromised.

The raids were due to begin on Sunday and would have targeted people with final orders of removal, including families whose immigration cases had been fast-tracked by judges.

Mr Trump had previously tweeted that an operation was imminent and said ICE would begin to remove “millions” of people.

He had also tweeted: “When people come into our country illegally, they will be DEPORTED!”

Mr Trump routinely used harsh anti-immigrant rhetoric during his presidential campaign and promised to build a wall along the US-Mexico border.

In 2018, the president’s demand for funding for the wall led to the longest US government shutdown in history.

He also sent troops to the border when a caravan of migrants began working its way towards the US from Guatemala.

But despite his tough stance, the number of people crossing the border has risen dramatically.

As of 8 June, there were 53,141 adults in ICE detention, though the agency is only budgeted to hold 45,000.