The White House’s border czar said he wants less rigorous, state-level jailing standards to apply to illegal immigrants so that local authorities can hold more migrants for deportation.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement Deputy Director Tom Homan said the White House was working to go by state standards so sheriff’s offices can keep unlawful border crossers behind bars for federal agents.
“If that’s good enough for a U.S. citizen in your county, it’s good enough for an illegal immigrant detained for us,” Mr. Homan said Saturday during the annual National Sheriffs’ Association meeting in the District, according to Reuters.
Mr. Homan, whom President Trump tasked with carrying out the nationwide roundup of illegal immigrants, has said previously that ICE has some of the highest detention standards among law enforcement agencies.
The ICE chief also encouraged state and local officials to join the 287(g) program, which allows his agency to collaborate with municipalities as part of the crackdown on illegal immigration.
Immigration sweeps are a central focus for Mr. Trump in the early days of his second term, with ICE and Homeland Security agents free to target apartments, churches and schools as part of their enforcement missions.
As of Friday, ICE has arrested more than 7,400 illegal immigrants and lodged more than 6,000 detainers — legal requests to take custody of an illegal immigrant from a local or state police department.
The agency has averaged between 900 to 1,200 arrests per day since Mr. Trump took office Jan. 20.
Roughly 40,000 people are currently in ICE custody.
Mr. Trump said last week that he is looking to make use of 30,000 beds at the U.S. military detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to “detain the worst criminal illegal aliens.”
The Buckley Space Force Base in Aurora, Colorado — a city that has struggled with the criminal illegal immigrants in the form of Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua — is also being used as a detention camp for migrants.
Mr. Trump has also ordered military troops to the southern border to safeguard it from illegal crossings.
The president’s border directives are popular with the American people.
A Morning Consult survey published last week found 57% of respondents approved of Mr. Trump’s border emergency declaration and 32% opposed it.
A separate Quinnipiac University poll found the country is largely in favor of sending troops to the border as well.
“The huge deployment of boots on the ground is not to a dicey, far away war theater, but to the American border. And a majority of voters are just fine with that,” said Tim Malloy, a polling analyst at Quinnipiac.
• Stephen Dinan contributed to this story.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.