U.S. Department of Homeland Security
The Trump administration has resumed aggressive immigration raids at farms, restaurants, hotels, and food plants this week, reversing course just days after announcing a pause amid pressure from business leaders.
Last week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced the temporary halt in enforcement operations in the agriculture, hospitality, and food processing sectors following intense lobbying from farm owners, hotel groups, and food processors concerned about losing their workforce.
Amid the mounting pressure, President Donald Trump both defended the need for targeted enforcement and acknowledged industry concerns, stating on social media, “Changes are coming!”
“Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace,” Trump wrote in a June 12 Truth Social post.
Just four days later, ICE reversed course, ordering agents to resume enforcement in these sectors.
“There’s a right way and wrong way to hire workers,” Trump Border Czar Tom Homan told reporters June 19. “It’s illegal to knowingly hire an illegal alien… ICE is enforcing the laws enacted by Congress… Where do we find most victims of trafficking? Work sites.”
Homan said enforcement will continue at farms and hotels, but with criminals prioritized.
“We’re going to continue doing proper worksite enforcement operations,” he added, “even on farms and hotels, but based on a prioritized basis. Criminals come first.”
ICE Director Todd Lyons underscored that priority in a June 18 Fox News interview, emphasizing efforts to target businesses exploiting human trafficking and forced labor.
“We’re actually going after those American businesses that are exploiting human trafficking, forced labor, things like that,” Lyons said. “We found some instances of some unaccompanied minors who were lost in this system that we had found at some of these worksites… We are focused on those worst of the worst.”
The abrupt policy swing reportedly reflects internal tensions inside the White House.
According to The Washington Post, Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, architect of Trump’s immigration agenda, resisted any exceptions for industries reliant on illegal labor. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, however, urged caution, noting that the Department of Agriculture estimates that nearly half of America’s farm workforce is undocumented.
The worksite raids have already had significant effects.
As CatholicVote previously reported, nearly one million illegal immigrants have left the country since Trump’s return to office, reshaping the labor market and creating new job opportunities for American workers.
