Video News Clips: In Their Own Words

Former Obama Admin Official Says Trump Progress In Deporting Illegal Immigrants Is ‘Remarkable Accomplishment’

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A former acting director of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) described the number of people deported during the Trump administration as a “remarkable accomplishment” on Thursday on MSNOW.

President Donald Trump issued several executive orders after taking office to address illegal immigration and border security, including designating Mexican drug cartels, the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua and the El Salvadoran prison gang MS-13 as foreign terrorist organizations. Former acting ICE Director John Sandweg told MSNOW host Chris Jansing that many of the deportations were in the interior of the country.

“I got to say two things quickly. One is that the way in which the White House structured this immigration enforcement operation with Stephen Miller running the policy, with Tom Homan being the border czar, but very interested, obviously, in ICE at the White House and then a governor, right, that’s going to create tension,” Sandweg said. “There’s always a little tension between the department and the White House, but especially so when you have three, you know, cooks in the kitchen, so to speak.”

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“But I know there’s frustration at these numbers, but I have to tell you, this is a — it is a remarkable accomplishment. These numbers are stunning to me,” Sandweg continued. “When I look at, let’s say, 600,000 deportations this year, those are all from the interior. And I think this is a critical distinction. When you’re doing the immigration enforcement, you divide the world into the border and the interior. And during the Obama Administration, when there were 400,000 deportations, the reality is about 250,000 of those were people caught right at the border. And it’s not as impactful because those are people trying to get into the United States. This is all people in the interior.”

Rioters in New York City attempted to thwart an operation by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Nov. 29. ICE facilities in Chicago and Portland, Oregon, have been the scene of multiple riots as opposition to the agency’s operations targeting illegal immigrants intensified.

During ICE operations in Chicago, agents were reportedly attacked by multiple assailants who used cars to ram vehicles. The Department of Homeland Security said in a Sept. 26 post on X there had been several violent attacks on an ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois.

Violent protesters attacked conservative journalists covering the riots at the ICE facility in Portland, Oregon, and also reportedly planned to use lasers against aircraft used by federal law enforcement agencies.