ICE raids: Top immigration official admits he ‘does not know details’ of controversial arrests

Raids expected in major cities across US

The acting director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services has said he does not have details about the ICE raids targeting undocumented immigrants, even though he has spoken about the operation in recent days.

Ken Cuccinelli said during a CNN appearance on Monday he did “not have operational details”, including how many arrests were made during the operation that began on Sunday.

Last week, Mr Cuccinelli discussed the operation and said there were approximately one million people in the US with removal orders.

“I told you, I don't have details about any arrests that have taken place so far with respect to that operation,” Mr Cuccinelli said, explaining his lack of knowledge about specifics by saying “operational details are kept contained within the agency”.

The raids were expected in Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York and San Francisco.

But, there were no reports of the raids in several cities, according to immigrant advocacy groups that are monitoring the situation.

Mr Cucinelli’s agency is in charge of legal immigration, and it is left to Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain undocumented immigrants for deportation.

The US has conducted raids previously, including raids on workplaces where undocumented immigrants have allegedly been hired.

Donald Trump's administration has overseen a spike in the number of those kinds of raids, compared to during the Obama administration.