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By Billal Rahman
Immigration Reporter
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A former Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field office director has said targeted immigration enforcement under the Trump administration will "absolutely" dismantle cartels, crime syndicates, and gangs.
John Fabbricatore, a retired ICE field office director in Colorado and traveling fellow at the conservative think tank, the Heritage Foundation, told Newsweek: "Absolutely, I think that they can because we're serious about enforcing the law now."
He added: "We're serious about how we're going to treat these terrorist organizations and these gangs."
Read More on U.S.
Trump made immigration a central theme of his successful presidential campaign. Americans largely support immigration reform overall, but disagree about how policies such as deportations should be carried out.
A *New York Times/*Ipsos poll, carried out from January 2 to 10, found 55 percent of voters strongly or somewhat supported deportations. Eighty-eight percent supported "Deporting immigrants who are here illegally and have criminal records." Large majorities of both Democrats and Republicans agreed that the immigration system is broken.
Trump signed an executive order on Day 1 designating Mexican drug cartels and other Latin American criminal groups like the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) as terrorist organizations.
Trump's order states that these groups, "threaten the safety of the American people, the security of the United States, and the stability of the international order in the Western Hemisphere."
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TdA, a transnational criminal organization formed in a Venezuelan prison, focuses on human trafficking and other abuses targeting vulnerable migrants.
According to a report by Telemundo, an American Spanish-language television network, the gang is believed to have about 5,000 members and makes annual profits of between $10 and $15 million.
The gang is accused of smuggling women and girls for sexual exploitation.
"We're dealing with a gang that's a little bit more entrenched. But I think President Trump has an iron will, and he wants to make sure that this gang is rooted out, and we're going to do that," Fabbricatore said.
According to Fabbricatore, who previously ran as a Republican candidate for Colorado's 6th Congressional District but was unsuccessful, ICE focuses on individuals who pose significant threats to public safety and national security.
"They know who they're going after. They know these gang members; they know these national security, he explained.
"It is absolutely good for national security because they are looking to take off the street people who are committing crimes or have committed crimes in the US."
Fabbricatore also pushed back against characterizing these operations as "raids," arguing that they are not indiscriminate sweeps as some critics have argued.
"These aren't raids. Raids are something where you go in, you don't even know what's in the building, you have a tip. That's not what's happening. This is targeted enforcement.
ICE daily arrests have increased since Trump returned to the White House and saw over 1,000 arrests and 814 detained lodged on January 29.
Fabbricatore also said that federal law enforcement officers now have clear directives under the new administration to carry out immigration enforcement duties.
"The men and women of ICE and other federal law enforcement officers finally have a boss that is telling them to do their job and allowing them to do their job within the law, and our basic job as law enforcement officers should be protecting the community.
"However, we can do that within the confines of the law; it should be done."
"Things have to be done tactically and the right way to make sure that you're keeping the community safe and the men and women of ICE safe and any other law enforcement that's working alongside you, " he said.
ICE operations have long been a point of contention in the national debate on immigration and law enforcement. Supporters argue that tougher enforcement measures enhance public safety by removing individuals, while critics warn of potential overreach and civil rights concerns.
Despite the controversy, Fabbricatore maintains that these actions are necessary for public safety. "They're looking to disrupt gang operations and possibly uncover terrorist plots," he said. "It is essential for national security because it's targeted."
Meanwhile, a legal migrant in Ohio, who had been working in the U.S. for 30 years, was reportedly detained by immigration enforcement authorities.
Local news station WBNS 10TV reported on Tuesday, January 28, that a man was detained and then released by ICE.
The man, originally from Mexico, is present in the country legally, according to his lawyer.
The Future of Immigration Enforcement
Beyond strict enforcement measures, conversations surrounding Project 2025 have fueled debate over the future direction of immigration policy. Project 2025, a 922-page document written by The Heritage Foundation, outlines how a Republican administration could overhaul the federal government.
Fabbricatore, who consults the group on border and immigration issues, addressed concerns about the initiative, arguing that its goals have been misrepresented.
"The Heritage Foundation is a think tank, and their job is to put thoughts together. And I think it's just gotten a bad rap because some people might not agree with some of the conservative principled ideas that went into that project."
He also dismissed speculation that the document represents a rigid blueprint for government overreach.
"Many think tanks in DC produce similar projects that they put out to help politicians or other people kind of have ideas. I mean, that's what these are. These are ideas. And, you know, I think people just get worked up over it. And, you know, it's not this big conspiracy that people put it to."
The guideline lays out how a conservative administration could dismantle the United States government and replace it with one more in line with a hard-line conservative agenda.
Democrats have warned that Project 2025 is a blueprint for how authoritarian Trump's second administration could be.
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