The New York Times reported on Thursday, June 12, 2025, that a senior official with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) directed investigators to stop certain workplace immigration enforcement actions unless related to criminal investigations. The guidance in the memo reportedly stated: “Effective today, please hold on all worksite enforcement investigations/operations on agriculture (including agriculture and meat packing plants), restaurants and operating hotels.” The guidance seemed to represent a shift in emphasis in ICE enforcement. President Trump also said on Thursday that there would be changes to protect certain industries.
President Trump in a Truth Social post last week acknowledged that his immigration policy was hurting the agricultural sector and vowed that “change was coming.” He followed with another post late Sunday directing immigration officials to focus on our crime-ridden and deadly inner cities and commented that you don’t hear about sanctuary cities in our heartland. Trump’s most recent statements occurred after he met last week with Agricultural Secretary Brooke Rollins, where he said repeatedly that the Administration is working on a short-term fix for migrant labor. The major concern with the Administration is not only political support among the agricultural community, but also an avoidance of a disruption to the food supply chain.
The dilemma is that participants in the Biden-era Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans (CHNV) parole programs are being told that their employment authorization is revoked effective immediately in email messages from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sent last week. Such notices follow the Supreme Court ruling last month allowing DHS to move forward with revocation of parole benefits for 532,000 immigrants, while legal challenges to the dismantling of CHNV parole programs are still ongoing.
These two developments occurring at the same time created a dilemma as President Trump has suggested he would issue an order to protect certain workers from deportation in response to demands from agricultural and food producers. Further, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) just lifted a freeze on pending asylum claims and visa applications for parolees in response to a court order.
On Monday, June 16, 2025, however, the DHS told staff it was reversing the guidance issued last week that agents were not to conduct immigration raids at farms, meatpacking plants, hotels and restaurants.
Despite the conflicting guidance over the last few days, it appears that the Trump Administration is moving forward with its plans to remove from the United States illegal aliens and others with temporary legal status that has expired or that been terminated.
Questions? Need more information? Call Jim Hughes at (404) 365-0900.
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