Mayor Turner says upcoming raids of undocumented migrants not likely in Houston

HOUSTON (FOX 26) - The city of Houston is one of 10 cities reportedly in the cross-hairs of an immigration raid that will happen on Sunday. This comes after President Donald Trump tweeted on Monday that ICE will begin the process of removing millions of illegal aliens.

An article that was released Friday by the Washington Post says the early morning raids will begin on Sunday. Houston is on that list, but Mayor Sylvester Turner says the claim that our city will be involved appears to be a rumor, for now. 

"We have not been notified. I’ve been told that other cities in other states have received some sort of notification that there will be increased activity in their cities. For example over the weekend. But the city of Houston has received no notification," says Turner.

The Washington Post article states that the operation dubbed “Family Op” will target up to 2,000 migrant families in ten cities like Miami, Chicago, and Houston, citing anonymous sources. 

Houston Police Chief, Art Acevedo, took to Twitter about this matter.

"Houston Police works with HSI to hold violent, undocumented suspects accountable. As to the removal of families, we do not anticipate anything other than routine operations.," the tweet read.

But still, the panic has set in, calls coming in to city officials and community activists like Cesar Espinosa, who represents the organization F.I.E.L.

"Since the president tweeted his threat against the immigrant community, our office has been inundated with calls with messages on social media like ‘what do we do how do we get ready, what can we do, how does my family prepare for this?'"

"It’s a difficult situation, and we may not know if or when the raids will come to our city," Espinosa says. “We need to send out a message to our community that they need to be ready, they need to be ready to respond and that we are here to help them navigate through this very tough situation.”

F.I.E.L says that they will offer their services online. You can find that link here.

Mayor Turner has assured the city that if he were to get confirmation that the raids will in fact take place he will be in contact with FOX 26.