ICE to step up arrests

WASHINGTON, May 29 (Reuters) – The Trump administration is removing two senior immigration enforcement officials as the White House is demanding a sharp increase in arrests of migrants in the U.S. illegally, three people familiar with the move. Deportations so far have lagged numbers under Trump’s Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden, whose administration faced higher levels of illegal immigration and quickly deported many recent border crossers. White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller told Fox News’ “Hannity” on Wednesday that the White House was setting a goal for ICE to arrest at least 3,000 migrants per day, far above an earlier 1,000 per day arrest quota. Miller, the architect of Trump’s immigration agenda, shouted at ICE officials over insufficient arrests in a meeting last week, one of the sources and two other people familiar with the matter said.  Miller and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also threatened to fire the bottom 10% of regional ICE officials based on their arrest tallies, the people said.

Nantucket: There was an undercurrent of fear and paranoia in Nantucket this week. The Nantucket Food Pantry posted a message in English, Spanish, and Portuguese to social media saying that if people are not comfortable going to the pantry themselves, “send a friend or trusted neighbor — we’ll welcome them with open arms.” (Boston Globe)

Vermont: ICE officials detained 10 people working at a private construction site in the town of Newport VT on Thursday, marking the second large-scale immigration enforcement incident in Vermont in just two months. Last month, eight migrant workers were detained at a dairy farm in Berkshire after Customs and Border Protection agents responded to a call alleging that suspicious looking men had crossed onto the farm property. Four of those arrested have already been deported to Mexico, while others remain in ICE custody. (VTDigger)

Tallahassee: More than 100 undocumented immigrants were arrested Thursday at Tallahassee construction sites. State and federal law enforcement officers handcuffed construction workers and loaded them into vans before taking them away from the site near the university. “Over 100 illegal aliens at a Florida job site—some previously deported, some with rap sheets. All of them thought no one would notice,” the Florida Department of Law Enforcement posted on X. “Florida noticed.” (NBC).