President Trump had promised changes to protect some migrant workers in a June 12 Truth Social post but his administration has since changed course
WASHINGTON ― The Trump administration will continue to conduct immigration raids at farms, hotels and restaurants, quickly reversing course after
President Donald Trump last week
vowed to protect migrants in these industries because of worker shortages. The move, confirmed by the Department of Homeland Security, was first reported by
the Washington Post , which detailed a rift in the White House on the exemption policy that Trump discussed in remarks and a
social media post on June 12 . On one end was Brooke Rollins, Trump's Agricultural secretary, who relayed the farming industry's concerns to Trump about
losing workers because of the president's mass deportations. But Stephen Miller, a deputy White House chief of staff and a top architect of Trump's immigration agenda, opposed the carveouts for certain industries, the Post reported. "The President has been incredibly clear. There will be no safe spaces for industries who harbor violent criminals or purposely try to undermine ICE’s efforts," Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary at DHS, said in a statement to USA TODAY. "Worksite enforcement remains a cornerstone of our efforts to safe guard public safety, national security and economic stability," she added. "These operations target illegal employment networks that undermine American workers, destabilize labor markets and expose critical infrastructure to exploitation." Trump promised changes to protect migrants in the farming, hotel and leisure industries
in a June 12 Truth Social post that acknowledged ICE officers have
expanded arrests beyond just migrants convicted of violent crimes , who Trump officials have said are the primary targets of raids and deportations. "Our farmers are being hurt badly," Trump said in remarks later that day, echoing the concerns raised by Rollins. "You know, they have very good workers. They've worked for them for 20 years. They're not citizens, but they've turned out to be, you know, great." Trump's new posture seemed to undermine his
long-touted policy of mass deportations , which was a hallmark of his 2024 campaign. About 42% of farm workers in the United States between 2020 and 2022 lacked legal status,
according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security . According to the Post, an DHS official sent an email June 12 telling agents to “hold on all worksite enforcement investigations/operations on agriculture (including aquaculture and meat packing plants), restaurants and operating hotels.” But over the weekend, ICE and the agency's Homeland Security Investigations division started learning that the new policy would be reversed. ICE officials confirmed in a June 16 call to agency leaders that they must continue immigration raids at farms, hotels and restaurants. Democratic critics of Trump's hardline immigration agenda mocked Trump's shifting positions. "Looks like Stephen Miller is the boss, after all. Trump got big footed by his own staff. Pathetic," California Gov. Gavin Newsom
said in a post on X . A White House official confirmed the changed course, telling USA TODAY that anyone in the United States illegally is at risk of deportation. Three days after Trump announced the short-lived carveouts for certain migrants,
Trump on June 15 directed ICE officials to ramp up efforts to detain and deport migrants from large Democratic-run cities. It marked an escalation of his crackdown on illegal immigration despite millions of demonstrators rallying against the policy during recent
"No Kings" protests across the country . In a post on Truth Social, Trump challenged ICE officers to "do all in their power to achieve the very important goal of delivering the single largest Mass Deportation Program in History." He called on them to increase their activites in cities led by Democrats, singling out Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York. A Trump administration budget document published last week said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement aimed to deport 1 million immigrants per year,
according to Reuters . ICE arrested more than 100,000 people suspected of violating immigration law from January 20 to the first week of June, according to the White House. The figure amounts to an average of 750 arrests per day - double the average over the past decade. Still, the pace of arrests remains far short of what Trump would need to deport millions of people. In late May, Miller set a quota for at least 3,000 arrests per day and told ICE leadership they should target anyone without legal status.
Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.
