President Donald Trump Monday night, less than 24 hours before he officially kicks off his re-election campaign, leaked details of a secret U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation that has been in the planning stages for months.
"Next week ICE will begin the process of removing the millions of illegal aliens who have illicitly found their way into the United States. They will be removed as fast as they come in," Trump tweeted at 9:20 PM ET.
The Washington Post, three minutes before midnight, published its report based on the President's surprise tweet, revealing details of ICE's plan.
"The family arrest plan has been considered even more sensitive than a typical operation because children are involved, and Homeland Security officials retain significant concerns that families will be inadvertently separated by the operation, especially because parents in some households have deportation orders but their children — some of whom are U.S. citizens — might not," The Post reports. "Should adults be arrested without their children because they are at school, day care, summer camp or a friend’s house, it is possible parents could be deported while their children are left behind."
Many took to social media to express in the strongest terms possible their outrage.
The cruelty is the point. https://t.co/EmGpELYrK7— Soledad O'Brien (@Soledad O'Brien)1560856076.0
So many ask: “What can we do?” Bring daily pressure on your senators & representatives. Daily. Build it into your s… https://t.co/9PdoHHuPpf— Connie Schultz (@Connie Schultz)1560856816.0
@realDonaldTrump Another thing we know is that whenever you’re feeling insecure and threatened you always start spe… https://t.co/MZ8dbSjYnR— Andy Ostroy (@Andy Ostroy)1560821379.0
@realDonaldTrump 8 U.S. Code § 1158: "Any alien who is physically present in the United States or who arrives in th… https://t.co/eVyV23ybwA— Zach (@Zach)1560821153.0
"Should adults be arrested without their children because they are at school, day care, summer camp or a friend’s h… https://t.co/AOY8gzrzBM— Michelangelo Signorile (@Michelangelo Signorile)1560860859.0
It can't happen here, they said https://t.co/IVaJxDbiYd— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar)1560820970.0
First children in concentration camps at the border. Now, ethnic cleansing. We cannot bear to turn a blind eye to… https://t.co/h1yXEhJRJx— Eric Holthaus (@Eric Holthaus)1560831564.0
Notice the concern was only the public reaction. They didn’t stop to say, “Immigrants are human beings and abusing… https://t.co/dWaiw3toJS— Amanda Marcotte (@Amanda Marcotte)1560857125.0
Trump announces mass immigrant roundups focusing on parents and children. Yes - children. Remember in 2016 when pe… https://t.co/Yt8I7lxSxU— Helen Kennedy (@Helen Kennedy)1560830026.0
Does anyone Kristallnacht see the implications of this? https://t.co/LkxyXk9Tqj— Eric Wolfson (@Eric Wolfson)1560854826.0
It’s not #ProLife to threaten, foment fear & rip families apart — or deport people into poverty & violence. Dietri… https://t.co/WI802vA2XG— Marcus Mescher (@Marcus Mescher)1560861285.0
Niemoller '.Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist.The… https://t.co/U25L4OwDBK— Jerry Lanson (@Jerry Lanson)1560861259.0
If you’ve ever wondered how you would behave if you’d been alive in the lead up to the Holocaust, the answer is “yo… https://t.co/LSvHJUiGiE— Sherry Frost 🆘 🏳️🌈🖤 (@Sherry Frost 🆘 🏳️🌈🖤)1560860188.0
“Should adults be arrested without their children because they are at school, day care, summer camp or a friend’s h… https://t.co/rYyQPGAimt— Jamil Smith (@Jamil Smith)1560833709.0
