CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- President Donald Trump said he will delay a planned raid of homes of undocumented immigrants in 10 cities across the county, including Chicago.
In a tweet Saturday afternoon, Trump said that he would delay the move for two weeks at the request of Democrats to give lawmakers time to discuss border solutions.
At the request of Democrats, I have delayed the Illegal Immigration Removal Process (Deportation) for two weeks to see if the Democrats and Republicans can get together and work out a solution to the Asylum and Loophole problems at the Southern Border. If not, Deportations start!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
June 22, 2019 Three administration officials told The Associated Press the operation had been canceled because details had leaked in the media and officer safety could be jeopardized. The officials were not authorized to speak publicly on the operation and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The operation was expected to begin Sunday and would have targeted people with final orders of removal, including families whose immigration cases had been fast-tracked by judges.
Trump earlier this week tweeted that an operation was upcoming and said the agency would begin to remove "millions" of people.
Earlier in the day, he defended his actions, saying in a tweet that the people targeted "broke the law by coming into the country, & now by staying."
The people that Ice will apprehend have already been ordered to be deported. This means that they have run from the law and run from the courts. These are people that are supposed to go back to their home country. They broke the law by coming into the country, & now by staying.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
June 22, 2019 The Washington Post and Miami Herald reported that 10 cities were expected to be targeted in raids starting Sunday. The Herald reported those cities are Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, and San Francisco.
However, in Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot had ordered police not to take part in immigration raids or share its gang database with immigration agents. She and Supt. Eddie Johnson are standing together to support the immigrant communities and not share any data with ICE.
Area activists say that there is a lot to fear with the raids and immigration advocates including 35th Ward Alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa and 33rd Ward Alderman Rossana Rodriguez, have been efforts to educate immigrants about how they can protect themselves from a raid, including the right to not open their door if agents come unless the agents have a signed warrant from a judge.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
