ACLU to launch rapid response team to challenge Trump's deportations



02/13/17 11:01 AM EST

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) plans to create a rapid response team to fight a potential rise in deportations during President Trump’s administration, ABC News reported Sunday.

The ACLU will use the team to address raids conducted by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

ACLU senior attorney Lee Gelernt told ABC News the team will challenge these raids as they potentially intensify under Trump.

The Obama administration deported 2.5 million people during his tenure in the White House, ABC News reported. The ACLU expects Trump will attempt to deport more. In an interview in November, Trump said he believed there were 2 to 3 million undocumented immigrants with criminal records that he would move to deport.

“This administration is just getting started and we’re anticipating much worse,” Gelernt said. “His rhetoric is already scaring a lot of people in immigration communities.”The ACLU also released a video on Saturday describing how to respond if approached by the ICE during one of these raids.

The civil liberties group also filed the first successful lawsuit against the Trump administration's bans on travelers from seven Muslim majority countries.

ICE conducted several raids over the weekend in major cities across the country. Hundreds gathered in New York and Washington, D.C., to protest the raids.

ICE officials have arrested hundreds of undocumented immigrants.

Throughout his campaign, Trump promised to crackdown on illegal immigration. One of his largest campaign promises was the construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Last month, Trump signed an executive order that instructed federal officials to begin plans for the wall. He also signed a second order to end the “catch and release” policy that allowed border-crossers to be returned to Mexico rather than be arrested.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefi...e-deportations