The Department of Homeland Security told Immigration and Customs Enforcement leaders of its 30 field agencies on Monday that agents must continue conducting immigration raids at agricultural businesses, hotels and restaurants, The Washington Post reported late Monday. The reversal seems to reflect division within the Trump administration over whether to exempt industries that have long standing undocumented immigrant workforces from the immigration raids.Last week Trump acknowledged that the ag and hospitality businesses had lost workers and said change was coming. On Friday the White House told ICE not to raid agriculture and hospitality businesses.
The New York Times credited Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins with convincing Trump to stop the immigration raids on agriculture businesses, but the Agriculture Department in a statement said only that Rollins supported the White House position on immigration and deportations. The American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives and the International Fresh Produce Association praised the White House for pulling back on the raids. On Sunday President Trump said on social media that ICE would focus on cities controlled by Democrats. But on Monday ICE shared instructions to continue the raids in an 11 a.m. call to representatives from 30 field offices across the country, the Post said. “There will be no safe spaces for industries who harbor violent criminals or purposely try to undermine ICE’s efforts,” Tricia McLaughlin, an assistant secretary for DHS, told the Post on Monday. “Worksite enforcement remains a cornerstone of our efforts to safeguard public safety, national security and economic stability.”
Asked about whether ICE would continue to conduct raids in areas outside large Democratic cities, a White House official told the Post, “While we will expand efforts in sanctuary cities, President Trump remains committed to enforcing federal immigration law — anyone present in the United States illegally is at risk of deportation.”
–The Hagstrom Report