Border Czar Announces New Change Of Course In Immigration Enforcement, Says ‘Criminals’ Will Be Prioritized

White House border czar Tom Homan said immigration enforcement raids will continue at places like hotels and farms, two industries with a significant percentage of migrant workers, but claimed people with criminal records will be prioritized.

It is the latest announcement related to the industries following several comings and goings over the past weeks. President Donald Trump initially suggested migrants would be exempted given the disproportionate impact that enforcement operations could have, but authorities later claimed they would continue. Now, Homan said they will indeed continue targeting the industries but prioritize people with criminal records.

“The message is clear now that we’re going to continue doing worksite enforcement operations, even on farms and hotels, but based on a prioritized basis. Criminals come first,” Homan said.

The official went on to say that operations are “based on criminal information, criminal investigations such as forced labor, such as trafficking and such as … tax fraud and money laundering.”

Last week, ICE officials reportedly told staff in an internal email to largely lay off raids and arrests in the agricultural, hotel and restaurant industries. However, the pause did not last long. By Sunday, Trump had publicly reversed his previously proposed policy entirely, ordering agents via a Truth Social post to deliver what he called the “single largest Mass Deportation Program in History”— focusing particularly on America’s largest cities, almost all being run by Democrats.

By Tuesday, the workplace raids were seemingly back on track, when ICE agents raided Delta Downs, a horse racing track in Vinton, Louisiana, rounding up nearly 100 equine caretakers, some of whom fled the scenes as drones swarmed overhead, according to Eric J. Hamelback, chief executive of the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association.

Undocumented immigrants make up 4.6% of the U.S. workforce— more than 7 million people. Many of them work in agriculture, hospitality and construction, The Guardian reports.

The recent flip-flopping on targeting key workers shows two contrasting visions of the MAGA movement and its plans to curb down immigration, The Washington Post noted in a recent piece. On one hand, Stephen Miller, an architect of Trump’s aggressive immigration policy, has privately opposed carving out exceptions for certain industries that rely heavily on workers without legal status. On the other hand, Brooke Rollins, the agriculture secretary, stressed to Trump the concerns that farming industry leaders have raised about threats to their workforce.

“Severe disruptions to our food supply would harm Americans,” Rollins posted on social media. “It took us decades to get into the mess and we are prioritizing deportations in a way that will get us out.”