Washington, Jun 22 (AFP) President Donald Trump said Saturday that he was delaying a planned immigration sweep for two weeks to allow time for his Republican Party and opposition Democrats to find a political solution to the hot-button issue.

The mass round-up of as many as 2,000 families who had been served with deportation orders or failed to show up for court appointments was expected to begin in up to 10 US cities as soon as Sunday.

"At the request of Democrats, I have delayed the Illegal Immigration Removal Process (Deportation) for two weeks to see if the Democrats and Republicans can get together and work out a solution to the Asylum and Loophole problems at the Southern Border," he tweeted Saturday.

He added: "If not, Deportations start!" (AFP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)