President Donald Trump on Monday asserted that the mass-deportation raids he confirmed and publicized last week took place, despite few signs of removals being carried out at the scale he promised.

“The ICE raids were very successful — people came into our country illegally, illegally,” Trump told reporters during an event at the White House showcasing American-made products. “Many, many were taken out on Sunday, you just didn't know about it.”


Trump last week said that the raids, which had already been delayed once amid internal resistance and word of their timing having leaked, would begin Sunday in nearly a dozen cities across the country. Last month, he pledged that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials would soon begin work on deporting “millions of illegal aliens,” a lofty figure that Trump later revised down.

“We’re taking them out by the thousands,” he told reporters on Friday, pledging that the weekend’s operations would prioritize removing criminals.

The plans sent waves of fear and paranoia through immigrant communities and prompted a hasty “Know Your Rights” campaign pushed by Democratic lawmakers. But despite reports of more routine, smaller removal operations over the weekend, according to multiple media reports and immigration advocacy groups, there was no sign of the wide-scale blitz Trump warned of.

At the White House on Monday, however, Trump, fresh off an event with American manufacturers and a combative defense of a tirade of racist tweets about U.S. congresswomen, insisted that ICE officers had successfully carried out a slew of deportation orders.


“I spoke to the head of ICE, I spoke to a couple of people,” he told reporters. “We had many people, it was a very successful day.” He began to explain why “you didn’t see a lot of it,” but trailed off and predicted that reporters would hear more about the operation later. “I’m not sure they should be telling you, but it was a lot.”

Trump also sought to show that his administration was actually taking a more humane — if more difficult — route by focusing on removing violent criminals.

“I tell my people it’s much easier to go the other route, but I say focus on the criminals,” he said. “Focus on the people that are killing people, that are causing crime. Focus on them. Much easier just to go to general population, that’s easy. But I don’t do it the easy way.”

“The truth is, it started a number of days before yesterday, but yesterday was very successful,” Trump added. “People come into our country illegally, and they go out legally. Every person taken out had papers and we had court orders.”