Migrants are "great" Trump abruptly softens tough migration course
Following protests and criticism, US President Trump softens his tough deportation policy. Raids in sectors such as agriculture and gastronomy are to be severely restricted.
14.06.2025, 08:06
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- After days of protests and unusually self-critical statements, US President Donald Trump is changing his migration policy and deviating from his announced deportation policy.
- According to a media report, ICE officials have been instructed internally to largely suspend raids in agriculture, hotels and restaurants - arrests are to focus on criminal foreigners in future.
- Trump justified the U-turn with concerns from the economy: the aggressive immigration policy is depriving important industries of longstanding, reliable workers.
After days of demonstrations against his immigration policy and unusually self-critical words, US President Donald Trump is softening his strict deportation policy, according to a media report. Trump's administration has abruptly shifted its focus in the campaign for mass deportations, writes the New York Times, citing unnamed US officials and an internal email.
ICE immigration officials had been instructed to largely suspend raids and arrests at farms, hotels and restaurants. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the new directive.
Investigations in connection with human trafficking, money laundering and drug smuggling in the aforementioned industries are still "in order", according to the newspaper in the letter. However, "non-criminal escorts" are to be spared from arrest. According to the NYT, the email comes from senior ICE official Tatum King and was sent to the regional offices of the immigration authority.
Trump had hinted at a change of course
In the metropolis of Los Angeles - where a particularly large number of undocumented migrants live - protests have been underway for around a week against Trump's tough migration policy and against immigration security officers who have been arresting undocumented migrants in order to deport them.
Trump's order to mobilize thousands of National Guard soldiers and deploy hundreds of marines to California is highly controversial. During the election campaign, the Republican had promised the largest deportation program in American history.
On Thursday, the President then struck a surprisingly self-critical note. "Our great farmers and people in the hotel and leisure sector have said that our very aggressive immigration policy is taking away very good, long-term workers," Trump wrote on the online platform Truth Social.
They are not citizens, but have proven to be "great", he told journalists. You can't take workers away from farmers and send them back just because they lack something they should probably have - i.e. papers.
Ministry confirms directive
A spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, Tricia McLaughlin, confirmed the "New York Times" research. "We will follow the president's directive and continue to work to remove the worst of the worst criminal aliens from America's streets," she told the newspaper.
