US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he would postpone mass deportation raids for two weeks as he seeks compromise with Democratic leaders on immigration issues. The president was under pressure from Democrats to call off the roundup, expected to target families in up to 10 US cities.
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he would postpone mass deportation raids for two weeks as he seeks compromise with Democratic leaders on immigration issues.
The president was under pressure from Democrats to call off the roundup, which was expected to target families in up to 10 US cities on Sunday, including Houston, Chicago, Miami and Los Angeles.
The President said on Twitter that he was delaying the raids at the request of Democrats to see if a compromise could be reached.
But he warned that if a solution is not found to what he described as “asylum and loophole problems", then deportations would start.
The House of Representatives' Democrat Leader Nancy Pelosi had previously said that the planned raids would "inject terror into communities" and "tear families apart."
She said the president's planned action made no distinction "between a status violation and committing a serious crime."
Trump based a large part of his 2016 campaign and is basing his 2020 re-election on the issue of illegal immigration and his proposed wall across the US’ southern border with Mexico.