U.S. ICE seeks new ways to ramp up arrests: report

NEW YORK, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Demands from the White House for a drastic increase in arrests of people who have entered the country illegally have pushed immigration officials into overdrive to fulfill U.S. President Donald Trump's pledge of mass deportations, reported The New York Times on Wednesday.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is carrying out workplace raids across the country like the one in the garment district of Los Angeles last week that kicked off protests and a vast federal response, noted the report.

The agency is staggering shifts so agents are available seven days a week to try to meet arrest goals and asking criminal investigators who usually focus on issues like human trafficking to help identify targets, it said. It is also asking the public to call in tips to report illegal immigration.

"ICE's work is being aided by a new mapping app that locates people with deportation orders who can be swiftly expelled, drawn from data housed in agencies across the government," said the newspaper.

The intense pressure by top administration officials creates an atmosphere that elevates the potential for mistakes at a time when officers and agents are being pushed to make consequential decisions, it added.