Collection of 'a large number' of illegal immigrants in the U.S.

According to the Associated Press, U.S. immigration officials have detained and collected 'a large number' of undocumented and illegal immigrants this week across various states in the U.S., particularly with great intensity in Southern California. This is the first action of this scale against 11 million illegal immigrants since Donald Trump's election as President of the United States. While officials claim that the aim of these actions is to target known criminals, The Washington Post reports that some of those arrested have no criminal history. Trump had promised to deport as many as three million undocumented and illegal immigrants with criminal records from the U.S. Last month, he also changed the Obama administration's policy on deporting convicted criminals, allowing the Department of Homeland Security to deport individuals who have committed minor offenses or who have not even been convicted. Immigration officials have confirmed that this week they inspected many homes and workplaces in Atlanta, Chicago, New York, the Los Angeles area, North and South Carolina, detaining a significant number of individuals. Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security has described what happened last week as part of 'normal' immigration enforcement actions and expressed dissatisfaction with the use of the term 'immigrant raid' in the media. Gillian Christensen, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, stated that during the operation, which began on Monday and ended on Friday, a significant number of illegal immigrants from Latin American countries were detained, whom she labeled as 'a threat to public safety' and the U.S. immigration system, adding that some had been convicted of murder or domestic violence. Immigration activists have reported that this operation extended beyond the mentioned states and continued in Florida, Kansas, Texas, and Northern Virginia over the past two days. The detention of illegal immigrants who have no criminal history and the potential for their deportation from the U.S. has shocked the immigrant community and raised concerns about the government potentially overstepping legal boundaries in this area. Activists reported that on Thursday, several individuals in the Los Angeles area were detained in their homes or while commuting to work for hours. According to these activists, 75% of the 160 individuals detained in the past week in the U.S. had criminal records, while the others were simply living in the U.S. illegally. The presence of a large number of illegal immigrants in various parts of the U.S. has long posed security challenges for the country, and preventing this trend has been one of Donald Trump's campaign promises.