An early campaign promise from President Donald Trump was to initiate mass deportations, and he is following through on that promise. Within hours of taking office this week, Trump signed a slew of executive orders that targeted undocumented residents.
“I don’t want to say when, but it’s going to happen,” Trump said when asked about his timeline for proposed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids. “It has to happen, or we’re not going to have a country left.”
In this case “when” meant as soon as possible. Prior to the inauguration, The Wall Street Journal released an unconfirmed list of cities that ICE officers would soon descend upon. Dallas made the list, along with Chicago, Denver, and Miami. Mayor Eric Johnson recently pledged his support in assisting the president in his deportation efforts.
“Of course, we’d stand by President Trump in an effort to get rid of people in our country illegally who have violent criminal records or who commit violent criminal acts here,” the mayor said in an interview with Fox in 2024. “But even more than that, people need to understand it’s a strain on our school system, it’s a strain on our hospital system. There are hidden costs to having a porous, open border, and we need to shut that down.”
Reports of immigration officers in Oak Cliff hit Reddit Tuesday morning. The Observer has compiled a list of information on how to prepare in the event of an ICE raid:
