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Federal agents in immigration operations told to be camera-ready as hundreds arrested

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Federal agents in immigration operations told to be camera-ready as hundreds arrested
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detain a suspect during a multi-agency enforcement operation in Lyons, Illinois, on January 26. President Trump has vowed to ultimately deport all undocumented migrants living in the country. (Photo: Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg/Getty Images via CNN Newsource)

(CNN) — The Trump administration’s weekend immigration sweeps that included nearly 1,000 arrests and has chilled many immigrant communities was followed by another blitz: A barrage of video and photos from the federal government showing agents in tactical gear and vests emblazoned with “Police ICE” and “Homeland Security” taking cuffed suspects away.

The made-for-TV look of the arrests is not a coincidence.

At least two agencies assisting US immigration officials with the sweeps ordered by the fledgling Republican White House have told personnel to ensure their clothing clearly depicts their respective agency in case they are filmed by journalists, sources familiar with the operations tell CNN.

While it is a common safety practice for agents conducting arrests to wear insignias clearly identifying themselves as law enforcement, even agents on the perimeter of operations conducted across the nation have been specifically instructed by their leadership to wear raid jackets in view of media attention, sources said.

On Sunday, federal agencies released numerous photos on social media of agents in tactical gear conducting purported immigration arrests.

TV talk show host Dr. Phil McGraw announced on social media he was “embedded” with an Immigration and Customs Enforcement team in Chicago as operations began. McGraw released video showing him interviewing the Trump administration’s new “border czar,” Tom Homan, at what was described as an ICE Command Center.

Inviting a celebrity guest to the Chicago operations was frustrating to Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, a Democrat, who told CNN’s Jim Acosta his office has not received any notice about the arrests despite working with federal law enforcement in the past.

“I think it’s done for the show, and I think it’s done to upset community and to score political points with those who want to divide,” said Raoul.

Democratic US Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois said his congressional offices would help anyone who was improperly arrested. “We can all agree we that must remove dangerous individuals who are here illegally,” Durbin wrote said in a post on X. “But the actions being taken by the Trump admin go beyond those goals.”

In addition to Chicago, immigration actions were also reported in California, Texas, Georgia, Colorado, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, according to Homeland Security and the Drug Enforcement Agency.

“We’re prioritizing criminal aliens,” Homan told CNN on Sunday, but added, “There’s going to be a point where we have to open the aperture to fugitives.”

Arrests reported at homes and a church

A suburban Chicago woman said her father – a native of Mexico – had been living in the Unites States for nearly 30 years when he was arrested Sunday after agents knocked on his door.

“They would open the door because they thought maybe one of (his children) were in trouble or something happened to us,” Yelitza Marquina told CNN affiliate WLS. “Never did he think they were ICE.”

One undocumented man was taken into custody by ICE while attending church Sunday in Tucker, Georgia, his pastor told CNN.

Luis Ortiz was in the middle of his sermon when he saw the man being escorted out by other congregants. He was told ICE agents did not enter the building but asked for the man by name.

Adult migrants have stopped going to work and children are not going to school out of fear they could be arrested at any time, a Chicago-based nonprofit assisting immigrants told CNN. The charity asked not to be named because of fear of retaliation.

In the Atlanta area, the DeKalb County School District sent a note to school families advising them the district will not voluntarily allow immigration agents into their schools.

“As with any unauthorized visitor, entrance beyond the main office and access to students or their information is prohibited without a court order or exigent circumstances,” wrote Superintendent Devon Horton.

ICE will continue “enhanced operations” across the Southeast about two to three times a week, according to a source with knowledge of the operations. They will involve the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, with the agencies given authority to apprehend immigrants.

ICE is casting a wide net, but its primary target is Tren de Aragua, a transnational criminal gang that originated in a Venezuelan prison, according to the source.

Not all communities with large immigrant communities appear to be concerned by the sweeps.

“Most of my constituents are fine. My constituents are here legally,” said US Rep. Carlos Giménez, a Republican who represents a portion of Miami-Dade County, Florida. Trump defeated Kamala Harris in that county, with its large Cuban population, by more than 125,000 votes in 2024.

“That’s what President Trump ran on, and he is complying with his promises,” Giménez told CNN’s Pamela Brown.

ICE leaders determined to increase arrests

Teams across the country have been given various quotas for the number of so-called “high-profile” immigration sweeps they should conduct each month, one source said, with the goal being to beat the number of administrative arrests made by Immigration and Customs Enforcement last year.

ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations conducted 113,431 administrative arrests in the fiscal year that ended October 2024, according to an agency report. That’s about 310 arrests a day.

Homan denied imposing an arrest quota on ICE officers.

“My goal is to arrest as many public safety and national security threats as possible and move on to the other priorities,” told CNN.

About 11 million undocumented immigrants live in the United States, the Pew Research Center’s latest estimates indicate.

Federal law enforcement agencies have been told to prioritize deporting a wide swath of criminal suspects under investigation who may be “out of status,” a law enforcement source familiar with the latest operations tells CNN. Someone who is out of status may have entered the United States legally but has violated the terms of their visa or other immigration requirements.

If a suspect under investigation by agencies like the FBI, ATF or DEA is in the country unlawfully, and an indictment for non-immigration criminal offenses investigated by those agencies is not likely in the near term, the source said investigators have been told to consider “just getting them out,” the source said.

The new posture is notable because crimes investigated by federal law enforcement agencies can take weeks or even several months to prove and prosecute. However, under the new guidance from Trump administration officials, agencies have been told to opt for deportation of undocumented suspects if a criminal indictment does not appear on the horizon.

Prior to taking office, Trump transition officials were asking law enforcement agencies about how many of their investigations involved non-US citizens, the source said.

CNN’s Michelle Krupa, Lauren Mascarenhas, Gustavo Valdes and Zoe Sottile contributed to this report.

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