Monday, January 27, 2025

'Dr. Phil' Videos As ICE Targets Migrants In Chicago


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.

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.

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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