Overview
- The Wall Street Journal reports Trump urged aides to focus on arresting “bad guys” and to reduce visible “chaos” after negative headlines and voter concerns about “mass deportation.”
- Immigration arrests have declined from more than 1,500 at peak levels to roughly 1,200 per day, according to people familiar with enforcement trends cited by the Journal.
- Large, high-profile operations in cities such as Minneapolis, Chicago and Washington, D.C., are on hold for now, though officials say future surges could still resume.
- Chief of Staff Susie Wiles is credited with driving the reset, with Melania Trump participating in discussions that questioned the politically damaging “mass deportation” label.
- The recalibration follows deadly encounters linked to January’s Minneapolis operation and comes as hardline allies press for tougher action and the Senate nears a vote on DHS nominee Markwayne Mullin.