While among the biggest policy changes that have come from the Trump administration so far.

Focus on immigration.

The president signed at least ten immigration orders and actions during his first few days in office, all to fulfill campaign promises of mass deportations and more border security.

Some are being challenged in the courts.

Others could take years to fully shape, but nearly all have sparked fear in the immigrant community.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials tell NJ Spotlight News.

Operations have ramped up under the new administration.

Today marked the first deportation flight carrying migrants from the U.S. to Guantanamo Bay, where the president has ordered the Department of Homeland Security to expand a detention facility with the capacity to hold up to 30,000 detainees.

It remains unclear whether anyone arrested by Ice in new Jersey was on that flight.

But raids here have left immigrants on edge.

For more, I'm joined by John Tsoukaris, New Jersey's ICE field director.

Jon, thanks so much for coming on the show.

Let me ask you first about the incident that happened in Newark.

A spokesperson from your office maintained that this event at a seafood seafood depot in Newark was pre-planned.

The fact that it was just a couple of days after President Trump's inauguration was happened stands.

These were folks who were being investigated.

Can you comment on that?

And and how, pre-planned the event was?

And was there a warrant?

First of all, thank you for having me, Brianna.

Appreciate it.

That, that arrest situation was, an ongoing investigation from our Homeland Security Investigations unit.

They went into the location because of certain allegations, and it was a consensual, entry based on the owner's consent for the person that was had the authority to allow people into the, location.

And, but no warrant.

That's not a requirement when there's a conceptual encounter or consensual, access given by the owner.

Has Jon has activity ramped up, in these last couple of weeks under the new administration?

I know when we spoke, with folks from your office, they say these are all targeted operations.

Is that what you maintain?

Absolutely.

We there's a huge uptick in operations.

We have a lot of, assistance from our Department of Justice partners such as ATF, FBI, DEA, and the U.S.

Marshals Service.

They're all supplementing our, arrest teams.

And we're having this as a total government approach to ensure that we, arrest people that should not be in the U.S. illegally.

Specifically, those that are public safety cases, those that are committing crimes, as well as those that have been ordered deported from the United States.

So, so just to clarify, activity has ramped up and you're attributing that to more government agencies partnering with you all to carry out these operations.

They're supplementing our teams.

And, this is all a result of the president's executive order.

Basically, on the emergency declared in came to the southwest border and respecting migration.

So the executive order, enhances or opens the, the, types of cases that we are going after.

And every operation we go on is a targeted operation.

We know exactly who we're looking for.

We're not just out in the community, indiscriminately looking for anyone that we think is illegal.

All of these, arrests are targeted in terms of we know who we're going after, we know where they live, etc..

So.

So let me yeah, let me ask you about that.

I mean, in the final six days of January, ice nationally, not not just here in new Jersey, arrested more than 5800 migrants.

That's an average of 973 people per day.

So among all of those people, is it not possible that folks who are not criminals, who did not have crimes committed, could have been swept up in that?

Yes.

Yes, absolutely.

If you're not a criminal, we are focusing on primarily on those that were ordered deported and never deported.

Now, everyone else, if we encounter those individuals, we'll make a case by case assessment at the time.

But our priority is the criminal aliens as well as people that have been ordered deported and never deported.

Is there a quota?

John, there's been a lot of talk about Ice issuing, 75 arrest per day quota.

Does that exist?

Not that I'm aware of.

We do not have a specific number that we have to meet.

Let me just ask you quickly, about some of the sensitive places in new Jersey.

Like schools and churches, libraries, places like that, that, that previously had, some level, I guess you could say of, of, of protection.

Are you, directing your agents to go into those places to carry out these operations?

What does that look like now?

The sensitive location policy basically, allows us to enter those, places.

Does it mean we're going to be doing that on a on a routine basis?

We leave.

That is, the last resort if we have to.

And there's a specific case for some reason that, perhaps is hiding out trying to, take sanctuary in one of these locations.

So I think it's, it's not going to be a routine type of thing.

It's just for the exceptional cases.

And in addition, our policy in the past did not allow us to do any type of surveillance on, outside those locations or on, on other houses, for example, that are on the same block as a church or, or school, where now the policy has been, changed that we can't do those surveillance or other operational, pre-planning or investigations.

So it's not just going into the churches or the for the other schools.

It's also, we were restricted in the prior, years from just, operating or doing anything around those sensitive locations.

John Tsoukaris New Jersey's ICE field director.

John, thanks for making yourself available.

Thank you.

Thank you.