The United States government has raised its target for daily arrests of illegal immigrants to 1,800.
Reports emerged earlier in the week that President Donald Trump had expressed disappointment with the results of his mass deportation campaign.
He directed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to ramp up arrests from a few hundred per day, between 1, 200 to 1,500, sources told New York Post on Wednesday.
“The Trump administration is now requiring ICE to make at least 1,800 arrests a day, setting a target of at least 75 arrests for each of the agency’s 25 offices,’’ the report said.
Since Trump assumed office on January 20, ICE has made over 4,500 arrests and conducted raids in several major cities, including New York, Denver, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Boston, the report said.
The White House has reportedly called for even higher enforcement rates.
Trump said after his January 20, inauguration that he would put efforts to immediately stop irregular migrants from crossing the U.S. border and begin the process of extraditing millions.
He also declared a nationwide state of emergency over the situation at the southern U.S. border.