Trump curbs immigration enforcement at farms, meatpacking plants, hotels
and restaurants
[June 16, 2025] By
AAMER MADHANI and ELLIOT SPAGAT
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration directed immigration officers
to pause arrests at farms, restaurants and hotels, after President
Donald Trump expressed alarm about the impact of aggressive enforcement,
an official said Saturday.
The move follows weeks of increased enforcement since Stephen Miller,
White House deputy chief of staff and main architect of Trump's
immigration policies, said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
officers would target at least 3,000 arrests a day, up from about 650 a
day during the first five months of Trump's second term.
Tatum King, an official with ICE's Homeland Security Investigations
unit, wrote regional leaders on Thursday to halt investigations of the
agricultural industry, including meatpackers, restaurants and hotels,
according to The New York Times.
A U.S. official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on
condition of anonymity confirmed to The Associated Press the contents of
the directive. The Homeland Security Department did not dispute it.
“We will follow the President's direction and continue to work to get
the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens off of America's
streets,” Tricia McLaughlin, a Homeland Security spokesperson, said when
asked to confirm the directive.
The shift suggests Trump's promise of mass deportations has limits if it
threatens industries that rely on workers in the country illegally.
Trump posted on his Truth Social site Thursday that he disapproved of
how farmers and hotels were being affected.
“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. “In many cases the Criminals
allowed into our Country by the VERY Stupid Biden Open Borders Policy
are applying for those jobs. This is not good. We must protect our
Farmers, but get the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA. Changes are coming!”
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Farm workers gather produce on Thursday, June 12, 2025, in Moorpark,
Calif. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
 While ICE's presence in Los Angeles
has captured public attention and prompted Trump to deploy the
California National Guard and Marines, immigration authorities have
also been a growing presence at farms and factories across the
country.
Farm bureaus in California say raids at packinghouses and fields are
threatening businesses that supply much of the country’s food.
Dozens of farmworkers were arrested after uniformed agents fanned
out on farms northwest of Los Angeles in Ventura County, which is
known for growing strawberries, lemons and avocados. Others are
skipping work as fear spreads.
ICE made more than 70 arrests Tuesday at a food packaging company in
Omaha, Nebraska. The owner of Glenn Valley Foods said the company
was enrolled in a voluntary program to verify workers' immigration
status and that it was operating at 30% capacity as it scrambled to
find replacements.
Tom Homan, the White House border czar, has repeatedly said ICE will
send officers into communities and workplaces, particularly in
“sanctuary” jurisdictions that limit the agency's access to local
jails.
Sanctuary cities “will get exactly what they don’t want, more
officers in the communities and more officers at the work sites,”
Homan said Monday on Fox News Channel. “We can’t arrest them in the
jail, we’ll arrest them in the community. If we can’t arrest them in
community, we’re going to increase work site enforcement operation.
We’re going to flood the zone.”
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