President Donald Trump, in a Monday night tweet, appeared to tease a massive Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation that he said was poised to begin next week. Trump said ICE would soon “begin the process of removing ... millions of illegal aliens” from U.S. soil. “They will be removed as fast as they come in,” he said.

....long before they get to our Southern Border. Guatemala is getting ready to sign a Safe-Third Agreement. The only ones who won’t do anything are the Democrats in Congress. They must vote to get rid of the loopholes, and fix asylum! If so, Border Crisis will end quickly! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 18, 2019

The president did not elaborate on what operation, if any, he was referring to — but Washington Post reporter Nick Miroff suggested Trump was alluding to an earlier White House scheme to arrest and deport thousands of families. The Post and The Associated Press reported last month that officials at the Department of Homeland Security had secretly mulled a plan to arrest thousands of undocumented migrant parents and children in coordinated raids conducted across the U.S. The idea, however, was reportedly shelved due to a lack of resources and concerns about public outrage. “Usually major operations of this sort are considered ’law enforcement sensitive’ and a closely held secret, not telegraphed by the president,” Miroff said.

This is the ICE round-up of families with deportation orders Trump is talking about. Usually major operations of this sort are considered “law enforcement sensitive” and a closely-held secret, not telegraphed by the president https://t.co/wh2VWPvFqyhttps://t.co/94h0vfGg0r — Nick Miroff (@NickMiroff) June 18, 2019