The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has backtracked on a recent order that had temporarily stopped immigration raids by federal agents at farms, hotels, and restaurants. This decision, shared internally on Monday, shows a quick change in policy after a short time when the Trump administration seemed open to reducing enforcement in industries that depend heavily on immigrant workers.
Last week, internal guidance from the Department of Homeland Security instructed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and its Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) unit to mostly avoid conducting workplace immigration raids at farms, hotels, restaurants, and meatpacking plants. However, the pause did not last long. As reported by the Washington Post, by Sunday, supervisors in ICE and HSI field offices started getting signals that the exemption policy would likely be reversed.
