In an exclusive interview on "FOX & friends," Acting ICE Director Matt Albence said while he couldn't speak to anything specifically from an operational perspective, the overarching concern when the agency conducts any sort of enforcement operation is "the safety and security of both our officers that are conducting the operation as well as the public."

"We are doing targeted enforcement actions against specific individuals who have had their day in immigration court and have been ordered to be removed by an immigration judge," Albence told Fox News' Griff Jenkins. "We are merely executing those lawfully issued judge's orders."

Albence, who said using the term raid does everyone "a disservice," added the agency is focusing on people who had had the opportunity to make an asylum claim in front of an immigration judge and chose not to do so or didn't appear for their first hearing. The acting director added that ICE gave those individuals the opportunity back in February to arrange for an orderly process to be removed from the country, but only 3 percent of people responded to letters that were sent out.

"At this point, we have no choice but to go out and execute those lawfully-issued removal orders from an immigration judge," he told "FOX & friends."

In addition to the enforcement operation, ICE also released a report on Sunday meant to illustrate the necessity for removing those who have committed crimes.

[...]

In the cases described in the report, three of the individuals were eventually caught by ICE and removed from the U.S., one is believed to again be in law enforcement custody while ICE awaits action on a new detainer, and 12 are believed to still be at large.

In one such case, ICE said an illegal immigrant had been arrested and released 10 times by San Francisco police between February 2018 and January 2019, despite ICE issuing detainers. Each of those arrests included charges related to either burglary or a stolen vehicle.

"That individual is a one-man crime spree," Albence said on "FOX & friends."

[...]

The operation will target people with final deportation orders on 10 major court dockets, including Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Miami. Albence said that doesn't mean arrests will be limited to certain areas. Authorities will go where their investigations lead, even if it's five states away from where the case is filed.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a statement that the city has taken steps to support immigrants families, and that ICE agents would get no assistance from the city.

"I reiterated that CPD will not cooperate with or facilitate any ICE enforcement," said the first-term mayor. "I have directed - and Superintendent [Eddie] Johnson has confirmed - that CPD has terminated ICE's access to CPD's databases related to federal immigration enforcement activities."

Meanwhile, Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser said her city "remains a proud sanctuary city, and we are committed to protecting the rights of all our immigrant families in the face of these disturbing threats."

Past raids have seen significant opposition from California, and the upcoming roundups are facing similar resistance from the blue state. Gov. Gavin Newsom called the impending removals "cruel."

"I want Californians to know they have legal rights and protections, regardless of their immigration status," said Newsom. "California is a place of refuge - that includes our schools, our courts and our hospitals and clinics. We hold certain institutions sacred and people should continue to access programs and services they need."

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti also said his city and local law enforcement wouldn't participate in the operation.

"Los Angeles will always stand with our immigrant brothers and sisters, and our law enforcement officers will never participate in these actions," Garcetti said in a statement. "No Angeleno should ever have to fear being snatched from their home or separated from their loved ones — and we are doing everything we can to provide immigrant families with the information and support they need."

Trump dismissed the opposition on Saturday, saying they were mostly "high crime" cities.

"Well some cities are going to fight it. But if you notice they're generally high crime cities, if you look at Chicago they're fighting it. If you look at other cities they're fighting it. Many of those cities are high crime cities and they're sanctuary cities," he said.

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