Trump Urges Police to Report Illegal Migrant Gang Members to DHS for Deportation

President Donald Trump told police chiefs of major US cities during a conference on Wednesday they should turn in illegal immigrants who are gang members to US Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly for deportation.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — On January 26, Trump issued an executive order on immigration that authorizes local and state law enforcement agencies to perform the same functions as immigration officers to apprehend illegal immigrants across jurisdictions.

The order further reinstates a 2008 program called Secure Communities that requires local and state police to hold detained immigrants until US federal officials can determine if they are in the United States legally.

"You have the power and knowledge to tell General Kelly, now Secretary Kelly, who the illegal immigrant gang members are," Trump stated. "You know the bad ones, you know the good ones. I want you to turn in the bad ones. Call Secretary Kelly’s representative and we’ll get them out of the country and bring them back where they came from and we’ll do it fast."

Trump told police chiefs on Wednesday the executive order and another barring entry for nationals of seven Muslim-majority countries were "weapons" for US law enforcement to secure the United States.