Following a rare admission that his immigration policies were hurting farming and hospitality businesses, Donald Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will hold off on raids on workers in those industries, The New York Times reported.
“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,” Trump posted on Truth Social Thursday.
He then turned to his common refrain, which is to blame Joe Biden: “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!”
The American Farm Bureau Federation, an agricultural lobbying group, praised Trump’s comments in a statement, thanking him for “recognizing the contributions of farmworkers who play a vital role in growing food across America, and committing to preserve the ability of farms to provide a safe and secure food supply.”
On Friday night, the Times reported that the administration had formally changed its policy to limit raids on agriculture businesses, restaurants, and hotels. The change took place immediately after immigration raids on major California agricultural centers as well as a meatpacking plant in Omaha, Nebraska. On Tuesday, Elizabeth Strater, vice president of the United Farm Workers, called immigration officials’ presence in California “chaotic.”
Maureen McGuire, chief executive of California’s Ventura County farm bureau told The Los Angeles Times that since major raids began earlier this month, anywhere from 25 percent to 45 percent of farmworkers in the area stopped coming to work.
“When our workforce is afraid, fields go unharvested, packinghouses fall behind, and market supply chains, from local grocery stores to national retailers, are affected,” she said Thursday. “This impacts every American who eats.”
More than a third of U.S. vegetables and more than three-quarters of U.S. fruits and nuts are grown in California, according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
The aggressive ICE workplace raids in Southern California, as well as its courthouse arrests, inspired a wave of protests in Los Angeles and around the country. Trump has used the mostly peaceful protests as an excuse to send thousands of National Guard troops and hundreds of Marines to L.A.
ICE has been conducting raids on restaurants as well. Last month, federal agents visited more than 100 restaurants in Washington, D.C., including well-known restaurants like José Andrés’s Jaleo, The New York Times reported.
The Times reported that senior ICE official Tatum King sent an email to the ICE department that carries out work site operations: “Effective today, please hold on all work site enforcement investigations/operations on agriculture (including aquaculture and meat packing plants), restaurants and operating hotels,” he wrote. He added that they should continue to investigate “human trafficking, money laundering, drug smuggling” involving those industries, but not to arrest undocumented people who they do not believe have committed a crime.
“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,” Department of Homeland Security spokesman Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
ICE’s aggressive workplace raids this month came after White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller reportedly scolded agency officials, insisting they arrest more immigrants.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Miller demanded that ICE stop trying to target violent criminals or gang members and instead “just go out there and arrest illegal aliens” at places like Home Depot or 7-Eleven.
On Wednesday, Trump’s border czar Tom Homan told Semafor, “Worksite enforcement operations are going to massively expand.”
www.rollingstone.com
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