The Department of Homeland Security has reversed guidelines issued last week that instructed immigration officers not to raid farms, hotels, and restaurants in the latest about-face from the Trump administration.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials told staff on Monday that agents must continue to raid agricultural businesses, hotels, and restaurants, two unnamed sources told The Washington Post. Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin also confirmed the latest guidance to Fox News.
“There’s not been a change in posture,” McLaughlin claimed in a Monday interview on The Story with Martha MacCallum. “We can continue to enforce the law. Our worksite enforcement operations are really tip of the spear to getting these criminal, legal aliens out of our country.”
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But even MacCallum appeared confused by the DHS spokesperson’s claim that there was no change in posture.
Last week, as protests against immigration raids spread across the country, President Donald Trump conceded in a Truth Social post that his sweeping deportation agenda was hurting businesses in the agriculture, hotel, and leisure industries.
“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,” he wrote. “This is not good. We must protect our Farmers, but get the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA. Changes are coming!”
The New York Times later reported that senior ICE official Tatum King instructed agents to “hold on all work site enforcement investigations/operations on agriculture (including aquaculture and meat packing plants), restaurants and operating hotels.”
But new reporting from The Post found that the DHS, ICE’s parent agency, decided to reverse course—again—after learning that the White House did not support King’s guidance.
On Sunday night, Trump himself flip-flopped on the matter, instructing ICE agents to double down on raids in blue cities such as New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
The administration has been struggling to meet the quota of 3,000 arrests per day set by Stephen Miller, one of Trump’s top aides and the architect of his aggressive immigration policy.
“We will continue to enforce the law and continue to have workforce worksite enforcement,” McLaughlin said. “That’s not a question. Those are not on pause.”
