Trump’s promised nationwide immigration raids never materialized on Sunday, despite Houston’s undoucmented population bracing for the worst.
Immigrant rights groups, local reporters, and Houston’s Police Chief reported no signs of Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity through the weekend.
Houston was among several major U.S. cities to be targeted by the federal agency. Other cities, including New York City and Los Angeles, were also either devoid of ICE raids or only saw routine activity through the weekend.
It’s not yet clear if or when Trump’s plan to deport “millions” of undocumented immigrants will begin in earnest, if at all. Earlier this month, Trump promised the Washington Post that the nationwide immigration raids would begin “fairly soon” but has since not given any further details.
ICE and its local Houston office did not respond to a query by the Texas Signal concerning information about the raids in Houston or the Lone Star State.
Prior to the expected raids this weekend, Houston leaders and activists shared hotlines and offered assitance to the city’s undocumented population which went underground in anticpation.
“When we make announcements that we are rounding up a million people, it creates havoc and pushes people in darkness,” HPD chief Art Acevedo said in a CNN interview criticizing Trump before the start of the tense weekend.
“I think we should be chasing crooks, not cooks,” he said.
The looming threat of immigration raids comes amid yet another racist comment by the president, who told multiple U.S.-born Congresswoman to “go back” from where they came from.
Texas Democrats and some Republicans have condemned the comments as racist, including Reps. Pete Olson and Will Hurd.
