US President Donald Trump's administration has told Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to largely pause raids and arrests in the agricultural industry, hotels and restaurants, the New York Times reported.
The report cited an internal email and three US officials with knowledge of the guidance.
"Effective today, please hold on all work site enforcement investigations/operations on agriculture (including aquaculture and meat packing plants), restaurants and operating hotels,” Tatum King, a senior official at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said in guidance to regional leaders of the department, the Times added.
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the guidance to the Times and said: “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.”
The pause follows mounting pressure from industry groups and escalating protests over immigration raids. Trump acknowledged that his immigration crackdown was affecting “very good, long-time workers” in farming and hospitality—sectors that depend heavily on undocumented labor.
“We must protect our Farmers, but get the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA. Changes are coming!” he posted on social media.
Labor shortages hit food supply
On Thursday, Trump said that he would issue an order soon to address the effects of his immigration crackdown on the country's farm and hotel industries, which rely heavily on migrant labor.
US farm industry groups have long wanted Trump to spare their sector from mass deportations, which could upend a food supply chain dependent on immigrants.
In California, large-scale raids have already disrupted the agricultural sector. Federal agents reportedly arrested dozens of farmworkers in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, prompting widespread fear. Primitiva Hernandez of 805 UndocuFund said at least 43 people were detained in farm fields in just a few days.
Maureen McGuire, head of Ventura County’s farm bureau, said between 25% and 45% of farmworkers had stopped showing up 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. “This impacts every American who eats.”
The United Farm Workers union said it had received reports of arrests as far north as California’s Central Valley, while immigrant rights group CAUSE said ICE was turned away from at least nine farms by supervisors demanding warrants.
Trump is carrying out his campaign promise to deport immigrants in the country illegally. But protesters and some Trump supporters have questioned the targeting of those who are not convicted criminals, including in places of employment such as those that sparked last week's protests in Los Angeles.
He has made immigration enforcement a pillar of his campaign, but critics say recent actions—like raids at car washes and garment factories—are punishing non-criminal workers and fueling a climate of fear in essential industries.
