President Trump on Friday praised the ICE raids in Mississippi in which hundreds of workers were rounded up this week, saying they served as a strong deterrent to illegal immigration.

“I want people to know that if they come into the United States illegally, they’re going to be brought out. And this serves as a very good deterrent,” the president said as he departed the White House for a fundraising trip to the Hamptons. “If people come into our country illegally, they’re going out. They’re not coming in illegally and staying.”

The president also defended the surprise nature of the raids.

“The reason [for surprise] is because you have to go in and you can’t let anybody know. Otherwise, when you get there, nobody will be there,” he said.

And more such raids, which also took place under prior administrations from both parties, would continue.

Federal authorities have released 300 of the nearly 700 workers detained in the Mississippi immigration raids on Wednesday, according to officials.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency conducted the raids on Wednesday at seven food processing plants throughout central Mississippi. About 680 people were said to have been detained.

ICE agents asked the workers when they arrived at the immigration processing center whether they had any children who were at school or childcare and needed to be picked up, according to DOJ officials.

It is believed that “all children were with at least one of their parents as of last night,” they said.