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The massive raid resulted in the arrest of over 1,100 suspects for charges ranging from witness tampering to murder in cities all over the U.S., including Los Angeles, Houston, Atlanta, San Francisco, and El Paso.  The sweep targeted international gangs including the notoriously violent MS-13s and Bloods gangs, as well as other prison-based gangs.  While most of the arrested suspects were American citizens, over 200 suspects were foreign nationals from countries including Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Belize, the Philippines, China, Jamaica, and others.  U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were involved in the sweep due to their expertise in international gangs and trafficking.

The , which was conducted by the non-partisan Public Religion Research Institute, revealed that 63 percent of surveyed Republicans under the age of 30 supported a path to full citizenship for undocumented immigrants if certain conditions were met, while only 20% of the same group supported deportation.  On the other hand, 34 percent of older Republicans (over the age of 65)  who were surveyed favored deportation while 47 percent favored a path to citizenship.  This would indicate a disparity in views between the leading Republican candidates – Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, who both support deportation – and younger members of the Republican party.  Among Democrats, 72 percent overall support a path to citizenship while 11 percent favor deportation.

Ken Paxton filed the  on behalf of Texas and representing the interests of twenty-five other states which oppose President Obama’s plan to prevent 5 million undocumented immigrants from being deported.  The brief contains legal arguments which dispute the Obama administration’ right to challenge the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling, which had upheld a lower court’s striking down of the plan as an overreach of the Executive branch.   The President appealed the decision to SCOTUS in November, and the Court is set to decide next month whether it will hear the case.