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(WASHINGTON D.C.)– There are conflicting reports as to whether or not the Trump Administration is going to pause raids on farms, hotels, restaurants and meatpacking plants amid the continued immigration crackdown by the Department of Homeland Security.
Earlier this week, President Trump’s administration directed immigration officials to largely pause raids on farms, hotels, restaurants, and meatpacking plants. Reuters said that information came from an internal email, a senior Trump official, and a person familiar with the matter. The order to scale back on immigration raids came from President Trump himself. It appears to slow down a late-May demand from White House aide Stephen Miller for more aggressive immigration raids. The source told Reuters that the President wasn’t aware of the extra enforcement push, and once it hit him, he pulled it back. The President posted on his Truth Social site that he disapproved of how farmers and hotels were being affected.
However, a new report from The Washington Post indicated that officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, including its Homeland Security Investigations division, told agency leaders in a call Monday that agents must continue conducting immigration raids at agricultural businesses, hotels and restaurants, according to two people familiar with the call.
In response to that report, National Council of Farmer Cooperatives President and CEO Chuck Conner issued a statement saying in part that “We are deeply concerned with reports that the Department of Homeland Security has issued new guidance reversing course on last week’s actions and urging a resumption of enforcement actions on farms and other agribusinesses. This directly contradicts the commitments made by President Trump to America’s farmers and ranchers, first in April and again last week. We continue to monitor the situation on the ground at farms, packing houses, and other ag facilities around the country so that all parts of this Administration are held to that commitment. In addition, the uncertainty created by these seeming policy shifts are doing grave damage to producers and their ability to help feed their fellow citizens.”
The United Farm Workers union said last week that it was skeptical the new directive would help workers without legal status. The New York Times reported the turnaround in deportations of farmworkers came after Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins raised concerns.
SOURCES: NAFB News Service, The Washington Post, New York Times
