Fact Check: Did Joe Biden Cancel Donald Trump's Operation Targeting Sex Offenders?

President Joe Biden, who is more than a month into his presidency, has signed numerous executive orders and reversed some of former President Donald Trump's policies, such as when Biden decided to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement in January after Trump exited it.

On social media, many are claiming that Biden canceled Operation Talon, a national operation geared toward deporting sex offenders illegally living in the U.S. and said to be established under the Trump administration.

The Claim

Representative Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) wrote: "Operation Talon was a nationwide operation established by the Trump administration targeting sex offenders subject to deportation. @JoeBiden cancelled it," in a tweet that received more than 6,000 likes and 4,000 retweets.

Another user tweeted: "Operation Talon- A program targeting Sex Offenders illegally living in the United States. Biden ended this program solely because it was created by the Trump administration. A program aimed at protecting women, children and sex trafficking victims was ended out of spite," and received almost 900 likes and 200 retweets.

The Facts

Operation Talon, an operation under the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), is part of its wider Operation Sex Offender Alien Removal (SOAR) initiative, according to information provided to Newsweek by an ICE official who remained anonymous because of operational security concerns.

Operation Talon has been postponed, not canceled, according to ICE, which confirmed that high level ICE officers decided to postpone it, not the Biden administration or the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

However, the belief that Operation Talon had been canceled has become so widespread that it prompted a letter of concern from February 18 from Eric Schmitt, the attorney general of Missouri, and signed by 17 other state attorneys general, urging that the operation be restored . The letter was addressed to Biden, the DHS and ICE.

According to the ICE official's knowledge, planning for Operation Talon began in January under the Trump administration before Biden entered office and was scheduled to take effect toward the end of February. It is planned eventually to be enacted, but the ICE official was not able to provide a date.

Although Operation Talon is on pause, it is the latest operation as part of ICE's SOAR operation, according to the ICE official. SOAR "is a coordinated foreign-born sex offender enforcement operation that builds on ICE's ongoing efforts to target and remove these egregious criminal aliens from our communities," as stated on ICE's website.

The SOAR initiative is an ongoing umbrella operation that Operation Talon falls under. SOAR carries out ICE's mission to remove sex offenders that are living in America illegally, the ICE official said.

The ICE official was unable to say whether arrests were made under Operation Talon before it was halted. However, investigations under SOAR continue.

This Operation Talon should not be confused with an Operation Talon mentioned in an online report from 2000. The ICE official confirmed that the 2000 report does not refer to its Operation Talon. It mentions an operation of the same name that began under the Clinton administration.

The ICE official said that lack of further public information about their Operation Talon is to prevent the operation from being hindered when it eventually goes into effect.

The Ruling

False.

President Biden did not cancel Operation Talon, which was planned in early January under the Trump administration, according to an ICE official.

ICE officers decided to postpone Operation Talon, not discontinue it. It is planned to be resumed in the future, the ICE official said, but the date is not specified.