This article was prepared with the assistance of ABIL, the Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers, of which Loan Huynh is an active member.
President Trump has reversed the pause he called for a week ago on deportation-related raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on worksites in the agricultural, hospitality and restaurant industries. He said raids would be focused on “Democrat-run cities,” which he claimed on Truth Social are the “core of the Democrat Power Center.”
Tom Homan, the White House “border czar,” said that “[w]orksite enforcement operations are going to massively expand.” On June 16, 2025, Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, said that worksite operations “are very much a cornerstone” of the Trump administration’s enforcement efforts. “There is no safe harbor, whether it be a church or a courthouse or a worksite. We will come for you; we will arrest you; you will be deported.” Following President Trump’s latest comments, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement held a call with its agency leaders in the field, ordering them to resume raids on hotel, restaurant and agricultural worksites.
The previous change in policy for those industries, implemented last week, came after President Trump posted on Truth Social, “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. … We must protect our Farmers, but get the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA. Changes are coming!”
According to reports, some public companies are now warning investors about disruptions in their workforces. Smithfield, a major meatpacking company, said in its securities filing in March, “Increased enforcement efforts with respect to existing immigration laws by governmental authorities may disrupt a portion of our workforce or our operations.”
