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Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents will continue workplace enforcement operations at farms and hotels, President Donald Trump’s border czar Tom Homan confirmed Thursday, after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) briefly paused such efforts earlier this month.
Homan told Axios that while ICE will focus on high-priority cases, operations at agricultural and hospitality sites remain active.
“We’re going to continue to do worksite enforcement operations, even on farms and hotels, but based on a prioritized basis. Criminals come first,” Homan said.
The announcement follows internal confusion at the DHS over workplace raids. On June 12, a department email reportedly instructed agents to pause enforcement operations involving agricultural and hospitality industries, including meatpacking, aquaculture, and restaurant sectors. That directive came just hours after Trump raised concerns on Truth Social about how immigration enforcement was affecting key industries.
“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 wrote. “We must protect our Farmers, but get the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA. Changes are coming!”
Despite the brief pause, ICE leadership reportedly clarified in a call with field agents this week that workplace raids should proceed across all industries, including farms, restaurants, and hotels, according to unnamed sources cited by The Washington Post.
By Sunday, Trump appeared to double down on enforcement efforts, ordering immigration officers to press forward with what he described as the “single largest Mass Deportation Program in History.”
Homan defended the policy, saying there are lawful avenues for hiring agricultural workers and that the rule of law must be upheld.
“Well, first of all, there’s a right way and wrong way to hire workers. There are legal programs that bring farm workers in,” Homan said. “Second of all, I’ve been saying for years, Congress needs to address this. But because Congress failed, it just doesn’t mean we ignore it. It’s illegal to knowingly hire an illegal alien.”
The administration’s renewed focus on workplace enforcement reflects its broader push to curb illegal immigration and remove undocumented individuals, especially those with criminal records.