(Reuters) -President Donald Trump on Sunday said efforts to deport people who are illegally in the United States must be expanded, including from cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago and New York, which have seen protests since immigration raids were ramped up.
“I have directed my entire Administration to put every resource possible behind this effort,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social social media site.
Trump did not elaborate on how specifically he intended to ramp up efforts.
The comments come after a week of tension in Los Angeles, where Trump called in National Guard troops and U.S. Marines to help keep the peace, over the objections of the state’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom.
Trump is carrying out a campaign promise to deport immigrants, employing forceful tactics consistent with the norm-breaking political style that got him elected twice.
Trump said troops were necessary to quell the protests – a contention that state and local officials dispute.
Trump’s administration has directed immigration officials to largely pause raids on farms, hotels, restaurants and meatpacking plants, Reuters reported on Saturday, citing an internal email, a senior Trump official, and a person familiar with the matter.
(Reporting by Costas Pitas; Editing by Tom Hogue, Noeleen Walder and Lincoln Feast.)
