Over the New Year the Department of Homeland Security carried out an aggressive sweep and arrested 121 noncitizens for deportation. These noncitizens are largely asylum seekers who fled to the United States from Central American last summer. Many of them were residing in Georgia, North Carolina, and Texas, and all of them were subject to final orders of removal for failing to win their asylum cases before the immigration courts. According to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, this large-scale deportation effort is intended deter other immigrants from crossing the US border without permission. While no other raids have been announced, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s official position is to conduct daily immigration enforcement.
