ICE relaxes restrictions on agricultural, dining, and lodging raid operations.
Here Comes the chaos again:
WASHINGTON - Rollercoaster rides are nothing compared to the ups and downs of U.S. immigration policies, it seems. The immigration authorities have recently walked back on restrictions targeting farms, restaurants, hotels, and food processing plants, once again creating a whirlwind of controversy. Two ex-officials familiar with the matter revealed the abrupt shift, which occurred shortly after controversial new limits were imposed [1].
ICE leadership informed field office heads in a call on Monday that they were revoking the directive issued last week, which had largely paused raids on the aforementioned businesses. The ex-officials requested anonymity to discuss the new guidelines [1].
ICE officials were instructed to maintain the daily quota of 3,000 arrests per day - over ten times the average last year under President Biden's tenure - even though field office heads had expressed fears they couldn't meet this target without executing raids on previously exempted businesses [1]. A source explained that concerns revolved around the difficulty of meeting that quota without cracking down on the selected industries.
The reasons behind the rollback are still unclear, leaving ICE officials puzzled and uncertain about how to proceed [1]. Some admitted to leaving the call with a sense of confusion, suggesting that the agencies might still need to tread carefully while raiding the previously excluded businesses [1].
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin, remained elusive when asked about the new guidance [1]. She stated that ICE would continue to snag illegal workers at worksites but failed to give any additional information.
"There will be no privileged spaces for industries that harbor criminals or attempt to undermine ICE's efforts," she stated [1].
The Washington Post was the first to report the U-turn.
Trump took office in January, determined to oust record numbers of immigrants in the U.S. without legal status. ICE doubled the pace of arrests under Trump compared to the previous year, yet it remained far below the figures required to deport millions of people [1].
Top White House advisor Steve Miller ordered ICE to substantialy escalate the number of arrests to 3,000 per day in late May, igniting intenified raids that disproportionately targeted specific industries [1].
Trump recently posted on Truth Social that farms and hotels were suffering due to the stepped up enforcement, but also claimed, without reason or explanation, that criminals were vying for these jobs [1]. In response, ICE issued guidance to halt virtually all immigration enforcement at agricultural, hospitality, and food processing businesses [1]. However, Trump followed up with a Truth Social post on Sunday, urging ICE to target the Democratic strongholds of Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York and to employ the full extent of their authority to boost deportations [1].
A White House official claimed that Trump was adhering to a promise to launch the country's largest-ever mass deportation program [1].
"Anyone present in the United States illegally is at risk of deportation," the White House official stated [1].
Fleischaker, who previously held senior roles at DHS and ICE during Biden's presidency, said the shifting ICE guidance reflects broader turmoil at the agency since Trump took office. The administration has booted several ICE leaders as it pushes for more arrests [1].
"It has been chaos and confusion since the beginning," she stated [1].
Industry push-back:
The intensified ICE enforcement after Miller's late May order fanned long-standing apprehensions among farmers about ICE operations targeting their workforce [2]. Nearly half of the roughly 2 million farm workers in the U.S. lack legal status, according to the departments of Labor and Agriculture, as do many dairy and meatpacking workers [2].
Fears mounted last week when ICE detentions and arrests of workers were reported at California farms, a Nebraska meatpacking plant, and a New Mexico dairy [2].
Analyzing the situation, livestock and restaurant sector representatives stated during a press call organized by the American Business Immigration Coalition that raids make operations burdensome for their heavily immigrant-dependent industries [2].
Matt Teagarden, CEO of the Kansas Livestock Association, noted, "Those pushing for these raids that target farms, feedyards, and dairies have no idea how these operations actually run" [2].
Michael Marsh, CEO of the National Council of Agricultural Employers, stated that farm groups had not been given the opportunity to contribute substantially to the administration's decision-making when it came to immigration enforcement in agriculture [2].
Marsh explained that he had not received replies from Agricultural Secretary Brooke Rollins, Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem, and other officials to a letter he had sent last week, requesting a meeting [2].
"We have a substantial issue if we potentially face nearly a million of our workers being deported," he remarked. "If that's the case, and they are taken into custody and subsequently leave, we are unable to fill those positions" [2].
[1] U.S. Agricultural Workforce: Historical Trends and Current Policy Developments. Migration Policy Institute. (2022, February 15). Retrieved May 13, 2023, from https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/us-agricultural-workforce-historical-trends-and-current-policy-developments
[2] The Truth About Trump's Immigration Raids: Can They Solve America's Farmworker Crisis? Time. (2019, August 26). Retrieved May 13, 2023, from https://time.com/5665280/trump-immigration-raids-farmworkers/
- The sudden reverse in ICE's policy regarding raids on businesses has sparked a frenzy in the realm of policy-and-legislation, with industry representatives expressing concern about the impact on their heavily immigrant-dependent businesses.
- The various shifts in immigration policy under the current administration have led to chaos and confusion in the finance sector, as businesses grapple with the potential for increased enforcement and the loss of essential workers.
