The Latest: Trump praises ICE for immigration enforcement

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump (all times EST):

9:35 a.m.

President Donald Trump is praising the actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers for the recent "enforcement surge" that officials say is targeting immigrants who are in the country illegally and have criminal records.

Trump tweets that "the crackdown on illegal criminals is merely the keeping of my campaign promise. Gang members, drug dealers & others are being removed!"

Advocacy groups contend the government has rounded large numbers of people as part of stepped-up enforcement. The agency calls the effort no different from enforcement actions carried out in the past.

Trump policy adviser Stephen Miller tells NBC's "Meet the Press" that the emphasis is on deporting those he calls "criminal aliens" and who "pose a threat to public safety."

Miller says "we're going to focus on public safety and saving American lives and we will not apologize."

___

9:20 a.m.

President Donald Trump's chief policy adviser says the White House is exploring "all of our options" after a federal appeals court handed the administration a legal setback on Trump's executive order on immigration.

Stephen Miller tells NBC's "Meet the Press" that the White House could pursue "additional executive actions" — as Trump suggested on Friday — as well as judicial appeals.

Miller says the goal is to pursue "every single possible action to keep our country safe from terrorism."

He's also criticizing judges for taking "power for themselves that belong squarely in the hands" of the president.