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2w ago

Trump Vows Policy Shift as ICE Raids Disrupt Farms and Hotels

Continued workplace sweeps have left the agricultural and hospitality sectors short on labor, prompting congressional pushback, with industries awaiting promised unspecified policy changes.

Farmworkers on a field in March near the US-Mexico border in Calexico, California. Undocumented workers make up an estimated 40% of farmworkers in the United States.
Farm workers work in fields south of Bakersfield in Kern County in April. Roughly half of the Central Valley's farm workforce is undocumented.
A Home Depot store in Westlake, California. Home Depot parking lots have long been convenient spots for day laborers to find work.

Overview

  • ICE has detained dozens of farmworkers across Ventura, Kern and Tulare counties, conducting raids at worksites and fields and sometimes lacking warrants, according to local farm bureaus and advocacy groups.
  • An estimated 25% to 45% of farmworkers have stopped showing up after raids began, disrupting harvesting, packing and food supply chains, says Ventura County’s Farm Bureau chief.
  • President Trump acknowledged on social media that his immigration crackdown is removing long-time workers vital to farming and hospitality, and he pledged forthcoming changes without specifying any plans.
  • Reuters reports there are currently no formal policy changes to exempt farm or hospitality workers from enforcement actions despite the president’s vows.
  • Several Republican lawmakers have called on ICE to focus deportation resources on convicted criminals rather than non-criminal immigrants, reflecting growing GOP unease over broad sweeps.