Trump immigration crackdown continues after Republican midterm defeat as arrests reported across US

US President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown has continued following the Republican Party's defeat in the midterm elections, with immigration arrests reported across several US states, including California, Alabama, Arizona, Florida and Massachusetts.

Despite Democrats winning control of the next Congress, leading operations by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have continued. The arrests have involved migrants travelling to college, attending appointments with immigration authorities and seeking medical treatment.

Trump suggested that his administration's approach could be reconsidered after the election, saying the crackdown may have been "too tough". In an interview with CBS's 60 Minutes, recorded on Friday, he said, "I'd love to do something on immigration," and indicated that he was open to discussions with Democrats.


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However, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin maintained that enforcement operations would continue unchanged.

"Deportations will continue," Mullin wrote in an online post after the election, adding that ICE takes no days off, including "on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Election Day."

Maria Bilbao, a campaign coordinator for the American Friends Service Committee in Miami, said she continued receiving calls about detentions in South Florida.

"Everything remains the same. The arrests have not ceased at all," Bilbao said.

Hours after suggesting that his administration's immigration crackdown may have been "too tough" and expressing an interest in working with Democrats on the issue, US President Donald Trump named Stephen Miller as his new chief of staff. Miller is the architect of Trump's hardline immigration agenda and has played a central role in shaping the administration's restrictive approach to immigration and deportations. The appointment came as Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin reiterated that enforcement operations would continue without interruption. Mullin wrote in an online post the day after the election, "Deportations will continue," adding that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement takes no days off, including "on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Election Day."

Immigration officers reported outside Los Angeles hospital

In Los Angeles, residents reported seeing masked immigration officers wearing body armour and blocking the emergency room driveway at Adventist Health White Memorial Medical Center early Saturday.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) declined to explain the officers' presence, while Bill Essayli, the top Justice Department prosecutor in Los Angeles, said they had brought a detainee for medical treatment. He also said two people were arrested for assaulting federal agents.

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"ICE does not target hospitals, schools, or churches," DHS said.

Hospital president Daniel Fontoura said the medical centre was not involved in immigration enforcement.

"White Memorial does not participate in immigration enforcement," Fontoura said, adding that it would not allow such activities to "compromise our commitment to patient care and safety."

Migrants detained during travel and routine activities

In Phoenix, an Argentine couple from Orlando, Florida, Gustavo Romanello and Agustin Baccega, were arrested at the airport on Saturday while travelling to attend a funeral. Both had work permits while pursuing asylum claims, according to family friend Jonathan Batchelor. They remain in detention.

In Alabama, Venezuelan twin brothers Luis and Carlos Orta-Santoro, both 19, were detained while returning to Wallace State Community College after visiting their parents. Their relatives said they had pending asylum applications, valid work permits and no criminal records.

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DHS said the brothers had entered the country legally but had "overstayed in defiance of our laws". It added that their cases would be heard by an immigration judge and that pending asylum applications did not confer legal status.

The detentions have also involved children. An eight-year-old Haitian boy was taken into custody after his uncle brought him to an ICE office in San Diego on November 4. The boy had been living with his uncle since his father was deported last year.

Guerline Jozef of Haitian Bridge Alliance criticised the detention, saying, "This is not child protection," and describing it as "state-inflicted trauma."