奥巴马政府的一名前移民官员周三告诉美国广播公司新闻，如果唐纳德·特朗普总统能够实现他在行政命令中概述的一切，他的大规模驱逐计划“可能会实现”。
约翰·桑德韦格(John Sandweg)在奥巴马政府期间担任美国移民和海关执法局(ICE)代理局长，他指出，与奥巴马总统相比，唐纳德·特朗普总统领导下的ICE的作用有很大不同。
“在奥巴马政府期间，我们提出了我们所说的严重犯罪外国人的定义，这些人与犯罪有关联，表明他们可能对公共安全构成危险，”桑德韦格说。“但你确实会犯很多轻罪，比如无照驾驶。在奥巴马政府中，我们确实说过我们对这些人不感兴趣，因为我们认为我们花费的资源不值得他们从公共安全中提供的价值。”
桑德韦格说，特朗普政府针对的是所有个人，无论他们已经被定罪、未被定罪，甚至因轻罪被捕;任何人都可能成为目标。
作为特朗普总统重大打击行动的一部分，ICE逮捕了1.1万名无证移民。桑德韦格认为，如果总统能够执行命令中概述的所有内容，特朗普的大规模驱逐计划是可以实现的。
随着特朗普咄咄逼人的态度，现在有二十多个宗教团体起诉特朗普政府，原因是允许ICE特工在教堂实施逮捕的政策变化。
该诉讼质疑政府扭转移民和海关执法政策的决定，该政策禁止在教堂、学校、日托中心和医院等敏感场所采取执法行动。政府辩称这些地方被用来藏匿罪犯。
Sandweg解释说，ICE进入学校或教堂维护权威的情况很少见;据桑德韦格说，坦率地说，他们不喜欢这样做。
“即使在特朗普政府，冰进入学校、教堂或医院也是非常罕见的，”桑德韦格说。“我认为这很大程度上是政府为了传达政治信息而取消了这项政策。ICE特工和实际从事这项工作的操作人员对去那些敏感地点没有太大兴趣。”
桑德韦格说，特朗普政府试图向犯罪分子传达一个信息，即冰毒无处不在。政府的目标之一是自我驱逐;他们的目的是给非法移民灌输恐惧，让他们相信没有安全的地方可藏。
“这不仅是为了帮助ICE实施逮捕，我认为，这很大程度上是为了说服非法居留在这个国家的移民自愿离开这个国家。”
Trump’s mass deportation plan ‘could be possible,’ former ICE official says
President Donald Trump's mass deportation plan "could be possible" if he can achieve everything he has sketched out in his executive orders, a former immigration official from the Obama administration told ABC News on Wednesday.
John Sandweg served as the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during the Obama administration and noted significant differences in the role of ICE under President Donald Trump compared to the Obama presidency.
"During the Obama administration, we put forth the definition of what we called serious criminal aliens, individuals who had a nexus to crimes that suggest they may be dangerous opposed to public safety," Sandweg said. "But you do get a lot of misdemeanors, things like driving without a license. In the Obama administration, we did say we weren't interested in those people because we didn't think the resources we spent were worth the value they provided from public safety."
Sandweg said that the Trump administration targets all individuals, whether they have been convicted, not convicted, or even arrested for misdemeanors; anyone can be a target.
ICE has arrested 11,000 undocumented immigrants as part of President Trump's significant crackdown. Sandweg believes that Trump's plan for mass deportation is achievable if the president can implement everything outlined in the orders.
With Trump's aggressive approach, there are now more than two dozen religious groups suing the Trump administration due to a policy change that allows ICE agents to make arrests in churches.
The lawsuit challenges the administration's decision to reverse the Immigration and Customs Enforcement policy that prohibited enforcement actions in sensitive locations such as churches, schools, day care centers, and hospitals. The administration argued that these places were being used to conceal criminals.
Sandweg explains that it is rare for ICE to enter a school or church to assert authority; frankly, they do not enjoy doing this, according to Sandweg.
"Even in this Trump administration, it will be exceedingly rare for ICE to go into a school, church, or hospital," Sandweg said. "I think a lot of this is the administration eliminated this policy for a political message. ICE agents and the operators who are actually doing this work don't have a lot of interest on going to those sensitive locations."
Sandweg said that the Trump administration is attempting to convey a message to criminals that ICE is present everywhere. One of the administration's goals is self-deportation; they aim to instill fear in undocumented migrants, making them believe there will be no safe place to hide.
"Just as much as this is about helping ICE make arrests, a lot of this, I think, is trying to persuade migrants who are in this country unlawfully to leave the country voluntarily."
