Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday announced that "Colony Ridge is being targeted today." (Brandon Bell/Getty Images | ICE)
The governor said Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) troopers and special agents were cooperating with Homeland Security Investigations in an operation in Colony Ridge this morning, "targeting criminals & illegal immigrants."
Abbott said he has been working on this operation with President Donald Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, "for months."
In response to concerns that his post would endanger law enforcement’s operation in Colony Ridge, Abbott said the operation began hours before his post and that "long before my post anyone in the area would’ve known about the operation."
A spokesperson for DHS, however, declined to comment on the operation, citing the need to preserve secrecy about the details of the operations and concerns for the safety of the agents involved.
ALLEGED FENTANYL-SMUGGLING IMMIGRANTS LEAD POLICE ON DANGEROUS CORNFIELD CHASE
Tom Homan (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
The Trump administration has unleashed a slew of immigration enforcement actions since taking office last month, one of the most notable being a string of ICE raids in cities across the country.
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Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday, Homan announced that in Trump’s first month in the Oval Office, ICE arrested 21,000 illegal aliens.
"I'm happy with the numbers," he said. "But I'm not going to be satisfied until every criminal alien gang member, every criminal alien, every Tren de Aragua [gang member] is eradicated from this country and [we've] sent their a-- to Gitmo, where they belong."
Peter Pinedo is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/texas-governor-announces-crackdown-massive-illegal-immigrant-community-near-major-city