The Trump administration has reinstated its full worksite enforcement policy through ICE, reversing a brief pause that exempted certain sectors like agriculture, hospitality, and food service. According to the Washington Post, the reversal was confirmed Monday during a call with 30 ICE field offices, instructing agents to resume workplace immigration raids across all industries, including farms, hotels, and restaurants.
Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLoughlin affirmed the shift in a statement to Fox News:
“We continue to enforce the law … there is no safe harbor.”
The move signals a return to Trump’s zero-tolerance strategy—a stark departure from the Biden-era model, which blurred the lines between enforcement and appeasement. Trump’s policy aims not only to deter illegal hiring practices but also to restore competition for American workers who have long been displaced or underpaid due to the presence of illegal labor.
Trump’s mass deportation plan just got real-world proof.
After ICE raided a Nebraska meat plant, illegal workers were out, and suddenly the “unwanted” jobs were flooded with American applicants.
The lie is dead. Enforce the law, and Americans line up to work.…
— Revolver News (@RevolverNewsUSA) June 17, 2025
The decision comes despite intense lobbying pressure from business groups and donor-funded immigration coalitions such as the American Business Immigration Coalition and FWD.us—an outfit backed by West Coast investors who benefitted from former President Biden’s open-borders stance.
There is no amnesty for farm workers.
The WH reversed the ICE order once it found out about it. https://t.co/zxUtBLmC7e pic.twitter.com/LHl1g2wVjM
— Patrick Casey (@restoreorderusa) June 17, 2025
Industry groups had welcomed last week’s enforcement pause as a signal that the White House might be open to compromise. But Trump’s reversal makes it clear: there will be no special exemptions, and enforcement will be uniform, regardless of sector or political pressure.
“Business and industry groups have been heavily lobbying the White House… pleading for an end to the crackdown,” the Post reported.
The policy’s impact has already been seen in places like Omaha, Nebraska, where ICE recently raided Green Valley Foods. Despite warnings that such action would devastate the business, dozens of American job seekers lined up to apply just days later—many of them Spanish speakers themselves.
This undercuts the long-standing narrative pushed by elites: that “Americans won’t do these jobs.” In reality, Americans will show up—if given the chance to compete on fair terms.
Just wanted to reiterate—we only hire US citizens on our farm and in our meat packing plant.
All of our full-time employees have health care. We can do this by being vertically integrated and diversified.
Most small operations like ours rely on family members, hire locals or,…
— Meriwether Farms (@MeriwetherFarms) June 15, 2025
The restoration of enforcement is also encouraging employers to invest in higher wages and improved working conditions. Meatpacking giant JBS, for example, just signed a landmark union deal offering raises, sick leave, and pensions to 26,000 U.S. workers—a reversal from the past, when the company leaned on fresh waves of foreign labor to avoid wage increases.
As reported by knlvradio.com, workers at JBS plants, including husband-and-wife teams like Thelma and her husband in Iowa, now see a future with financial dignity—thanks in part to reduced labor exploitation.
