TV host "Dr. Phil" embedded with U.S. immigration enforcement officers during an operation in Chicago on Sunday, defending President Donald Trump's deportation effort as the crackdown neared the end of its first week.
Reuters reports Phil McGraw, known as "Dr. Phil" for the eponymous American television series focused on mental health, followed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers and other federal agents during the action, according to his X account and two sources familiar with the matter.
McGraw, who spoke at a Trump campaign event in October, said in a post on X on Sunday that ICE aimed to pick 270 "high-value targets", indicating it was a targeted operation, and defended the approach.
"They're not sweeping neighborhoods like people are trying to imply," he said.
LIVE NOW: Dr. Phil and @RealTomHoman are in an ICE Command Center in Chicago.
— Dr. Phil (@DrPhil) January 26, 2025
Dr. Phil: Are you going into schools and arresting children at schools?
Tom Homan: No.
Dr. Phil: Is anything like that happening?
Tom Homan: No sir. pic.twitter.com/ELvIDDM6SN
Trump, a Republican, took steps to launch a wide-ranging immigration crackdown after taking office on Jan. 20, sending U.S. troops to the border and empowering immigration agents to pick up more non-criminals. The Trump administration last week deputized law enforcement agents with several Justice Department agencies to conduct immigration enforcement to supplement ICE efforts.
Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and U.S. Marshals Service were granted the authority, the Trump administration said last week.
JUST IN: The first arrest in Chicago with @RealTomHoman was a convicted sex offender and internet predator from Thailand.
— Dr. Phil (@DrPhil) January 27, 2025
For full live coverage of the operation, download the MeritTV app. pic.twitter.com/KEcphUWDDJ
A Justice Department official said that the first arrest in Chicago that Bove observed involved an immigrant living illegally in the U.S. who had "killed a 19-year-old woman while driving under the influence."
ICE said it partnered with the DOJ for "enhanced targeted operations" in Chicago on Sunday aimed at preserving public safety but did not provide further details.
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