Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, IMMIGRATION NEWS—White House, on switchback policy course, indicates expansion of ICE deportations, (Jun 17, 2025)

By Jason Albright, J.D.

In a June 15 post on his Truth Social platform, Trump ordered ICE officers “to do all in their power to achieve the very important goal of delivering the single largest Mass Deportation Program in History.”

The White House and the Department of Homeland Security appear to have reversed a policy course, initiated last week, that would have put a hold on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids at farms, hotels, and restaurants. Instead, following on the heels of a statement posted by President Trump on his Truth Social platform on Sunday evening, ICE officials, according toThe Washington Post, told agency leaders in a call yesterday that agents must continue conducting immigration raids at businesses in these sectors.

Industry concerns about labor market. The prior policy reversal had occurred after Trump previously suggested his sympathy with concerns raised by agricultural and hospitality industry executives about the labor market implications of his deportation goals. On Thursday, June 12, the President had stated on Truth Social, “Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace…. Changes are coming!”

Another change of course. In Trump’s June 15 message, however, he indicated an intention to persist in “the single largest Mass Deportation Program in History.” Linking this agenda to explicit allegations against perceived political and electoral challengers, the President stated, “In order to achieve this, we must expand efforts to detain and deport Illegal Aliens in America’s largest Cities, such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York, where Millions upon Millions of Illegal Aliens reside. These, and other such Cities, are the core of the Democrat Power Center, where they use Illegal Aliens to expand their Voter Base, cheat in Elections, and grow the Welfare State, robbing good paying Jobs and Benefits from Hardworking American Citizens.”

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