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© Thomson Reuters 2025.U.S. immigration officials told to largely pause raids on farms, hotels, NYT reports
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56 Comments
GuruMick
If you punish the employers who use illegal immigrants, you punish gool old Republican people
That simple.
HopeSpringsEternal
Turns out that many businesses use illegal immigrants in order to increase their profits. As illegals cannot easily sue their employers, work for $far less, given far less benefits, etc. In other words, illegals are easily exploited.
Politicians that 'enable' business, by not enforcing immigration laws in sanctuary cities and states, thus receive lots of $support from such businesses. It turns out that "Blue" states are by far the worst offenders.
As immigrants needed, especially in farming and other low skill service areas, the key is to make sure they're vetted and obtain the legal right to work. This protects both US citizens and immigrants from exploitation.
As a result, vast majority of US citizens want legal vetted immigrants, not illegal unvetted immigrants, as it far better ensures public safety and the rule of law.
Naturally, unvetted illegal alien criminals are not wanted, about 90% of Americans want them deported ASAP.
wallace
It could also be that not enough Americans want to work those jobs anymore. The immigrants could be issued with temporary work visas for those jobs.
California, Texas, and Florida have the highest numbers of unauthorized immigrants, with millions residing in each state.
California: Estimated to have around 1.8 million unauthorized immigrants.
Texas: Estimated to have around 1.6 million unauthorized immigrants.
Florida: Estimated to have around 1.2 million unauthorized immigrants.
New York: Estimated to have around 650,000 unauthorized immigrants.
New Jersey: Estimated to have around 475,000 unauthorized immigrants.
Illinois: Estimated to have around 400,000 unauthorized immigrants.
TaiwanIsNotChina
Add in the Home Depot. It is a pain in the rear to get work done on your house.
TaiwanIsNotChina
So basically the Trump immigration policy will come down to scamming people coming in for immigration interviews, rounding up college students, and targeting the odd church and primary school for jollies.
TorafusuTorasan
@wallace--it actually is as easy as the president signing off for blanket amnesty, as Ronald Reagan showed.
There is a process for securing temp foreign workforce, as the Trump Organization well understands having applied for hundreds more visas every July for decades. Next month may bring a bumper crop of non-citizen workers to the Trump winery and other properties. I will be sure to tune in for some first-time transparent disclosures from the Trump Org about their workers, as that employer in the past invoked privacy not to tell us anything about them. A nice juicy target for investigative journalists.
itsonlyrocknroll
The toxic Biden/Harris/democrat cynical abuse of open borders, race to the bottom, blind eye use of undocumented illegal immigration, instead of supporting living wages.
God, the utter sinking democrat bare faced hypocrisy, that openly encouraged such exploitation
Time for change, set out a clear immigration policy, round up reassess, deport the criminal risk, start again from scratch.
HopeSpringsEternal
Problem around immigration stems from Biden Open Borders. Nobody knows who they are or where they are.
Border Patrol and ICE estimate under the Biden Admin there were +2M known got aways, who intentionally choose not to receive $generous Govt. support for housing, healthcare, food etc. In other words, RISKY
Naturally, illegal aliens, especially criminals, if possible, go to areas where there's less immigration enforcement, commonly known as sanctuary cities and states, LA being a prime example of illegal alien 'magnet'.
Illegal Alien farmworkers and hotel workers tend to go where the work is and as this work is often seasonal and so they move around to find more work.
Trump Admin is definitely prioritizing ICE enforcement to target criminal and national security threats, while encouraging business, like farming and hotels to register their workers and have them obtain legal work visas.
wallace
Biden deported more illegal immigrants than Trump.
More than 271,000 immigrants were deported from the US over the last fiscal year, according to a report released by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.
HopeSpringsEternal
Trump's "killing it" on immigration with the US public, it's his best issue relative to Trump 1.0, nobody misses Biden, see article cutout below from Real Politics today
wallace
Did someone tell him how many are working in his businesses?
Blacklabel
This is the New York Times saying this. I will believe it when I hear it (and the explanation and context why) from Trump himself.
nishikat
NO! No exceptions! They all have to go. This is the Trump way!
nishikat
Exactly. Trump wants NO illegals in the USA. None. The NYC is totally wrong and we need to get real Americans to do these farm jobs.
masugomi
As some posters have pointed out, it's easy for employers to exploit illegal immigrants, since their lack of legal status often prevents them from reporting abuse or unfair treatment for fear of deportation. This is a serious problem, and we must take steps to prevent such exploitation. The best way to protect these individuals is to ensure they are not placed in vulnerable situations to begin with — returning them to their home countries, such as Mexico, would reduce the risk of exploitation to zero.
John-San
In USA employers systematic under pay and make them live filthy conditions. Even if you are legal Immigration and Customs Gestapo still abduct them, torture their families and throw them in interment camps if they are lucky worst if illegal.
garypen
The only thing Trump is "killing" is his approval ratings, according to the latest Quinnipiac University poll from June 11:
Immigration issues: 43 percent approve, 54 percent disapprove
Deportations: 40 percent approve, 56 percent disapprove
Economy: 40 percent approve, 56 percent disapprove
Trade: 38 percent approve, 57 percent disapprove
Israel - Hamas conflict: 35 percent approve, 52 percent disapprove
Russia - Ukraine war: 34 percent approve, 57 percent disapprove
Job Approval: 38 percent approve, 54 percent disapprove
Just an FYI.
nishikat
It's beyond MAGA to answer this
Blacklabel
no. Not what we voted for. No illegals.
so it would require some type of seasonal worker program that has an application, vetting and visa approval process with documentation.
then they would not be “illegals” would they?
lincolnman
"U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has told immigration officials to largely pause raids and arrests in the agricultural industry, hotels and restaurants, the New York Times reported on Friday."
Gee, I wonder who owns HOTELS?
MAGA-world - playing its supporters for suckers each day...
Blacklabel
a poll that sampled only 26% Republican. Can throw that out,
bass4funk
That means a lot of work ICE will do, now of course they won’t get every single one, but once the Supreme Court rules in Trump’s favor, the deportations will commence and the numbers will go up expeditiously, particularly in red states…for now.
bass4funk
Biden was in office 4 years, Trump just 6 months, give it time, those numbers will increase.
okinawarides
Biden deported more illegal immigrants than Trump.
And at the same time he let in millions more through the open border. Trump brought that to a halt.
ThePunisher
What they won't tell you is that undocumented immigrant workers are crucial to the agriculture and hospitality industries in America. That is exactly why they have stopped raiding farms and hotels.
American citizens simply won't do these jobs.
nishikat
WRONG!
Not possible due to the serious beaucracy. There are many pitfalls, otherwise it would have been done already (educate yourself by checking this information online). Solution? Hire real Americans with real salaries and benefits....then watermelons will be 5x the cost. There is no other way. Mexicans with visas can't just jump around to different workpla
nishikat
(one of many constraints). Trump can't make this work. Remember the only thing Trump is good at us scamming like scamming billions from Trumpcoin while his pay direct out of their bank
lincolnman
So Red States are "winning" in the number of illegal immigrants that live there... Congrats!
Florida doesn't surprise me given the number that are employed at MAL...
Doesn't say much for Ayatollah Abbott and Groomer DeSantis, does it?
Except they're failures....just like Trump...
wallace
This is Trump's second office, so it's more like 4.6 years.
The above total of illegal immigrants is about 6 million. Where are there other claimed 5-6 million?
lincolnman
Yea, give it time...like his promise to build a "wall" that we're now STILL waiting eight years on...
ROFL...
bass4funk
With the number of illegals he deported compared to the number he and Myorkas let in, it’s kind of a wasted wash.
Not at all
It should because it’s not happening
https://www.newsweek.com/map-shows-states-illegal-immigration-2010192
garypen
"according to the latest Quinnipiac University poll"
Where did you pull that number out of?
NCIS Reruns
From Wiki: "The first use of the term wetback in The New York Times is dated June 20, 1920."
In other words, the US has been sitting on its thumbs with a problem with illegal immigration for 105 years and done nothing to fix it. That is world-class procrastination.
bass4funk
With a 4 year break, so again, it’s 6 months, first time he didn’t have to deal with Biden and Myorkas mess.
Almost completed once the BBB is past 746 more miles need construction by end of 2029. But if the ambition is to cover the full border (1,954 miles), approximately 1,300 miles remain left to build.
Blacklabel
the “sample methodology” link for the poll.
Which is the very first thing you ALWAYS look at a poll that don’t match all the rest.
Blacklabel
if you waited for that during 4 years of Biden, that’s a personal lack of comprehension and understanding.
wallace
The number of unauthorized immigrants has been constant since 2007.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/646261/unauthorized-immigrant-population-in-the-us/
lincolnman
Contradicts his own post! How MAGA....
Here it is if you missed it above; Bass: "*California, Texas, and Florida have the highest numbers of unauthorized immigrants, with millions residing in each state."*
Keep dreaming...
ROFL...2029! 12 years from his promise to do it in six months! LMAO...
bass4funk
No, they have been trending up for years until the first Trump admin, spiked during Biden and then started going down in December last year for the first time in 4 years.
https://homeland.house.gov/2023/10/26/factsheet-final-fy23-numbers-show-worst-year-at-americas-borders-ever/
bass4funk
Not at all
It should because it’s not happening
No need to.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/05/12/ice-raids-mass-deportation-new-normal-florida/83582776007/
Yes, California didn’t even get their so called high speed train running and it won’t, ever.
wallace
bass4funk
The number of unauthorized immigrants has been constant since 2007.
You disagree with the Statista site and their extensive resources and experts.
Blacklabel
they won’t be “illegals” any more.
So they will be vetted and identified and have documents.
they will pay and have deducted what workers have to pay and deduct.
and will receive whatever benefits non citizens receive.
I don’t know why you can’t get this. You know non citizen foreigners in Japan have this sane work system, don’t you?
geronimo2006
So now it's sort of OK to be an illegal immigrant working in the US as long as it is in the agricultural industry, or at a hotel or restaurant? Wouldn't that be many of the illegal immigrants? How will that work? Who will decide and how? Didn't Trump promise to get them all out. That's a very big flip-flop. And he's doing this because he is just now realizing the enormous impact it would have on the economy - duh. But Trump doesn't care about trivial things like the consequences of his actions or the livelihoods of people. He wants to use the issue for political mileage and to go after his political opponents.
wallace
bass4funk
You disagree with the Statista site and its extensive resources and experts.
The document you linked to by the republican party does not give the totals for the illegal immigrants. UPDATEDOCT.23,2023.
nishikat
This means much more expensive watermelons
WRONG
U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has told immigration officials to largely pause raids and arrests in the agricultural industry, hotels and restaurants, the New York Times reported on Friday.
Trump said nothing about visas. Trump 100% meant let illegals continue to work and stay in the USA illegally. Remember, Trump is not good at anything except scamming other people like with his Trump Coin and Eric Kr. Ivanka Coin. Got to think about the Trump family future
bass4funk
Yes, from the BP records coming out of Texas, you do remember when Myorkas tried to stop Abbott from closing off his country from illegals because that wretched man said his tactics were inhumane?
Blacklabel
because Trump hasn’t said anything at all. Nothing.
it’s the New York Times claiming something. Again.
so until Trump confirms and explains and shares context, who knows?
nishikat
Exactly. This means all the watermelon will rot since no Mexicans will be allowed to pick them.
Then Trump will allow the illegals? Who's gonna pick the watermelons? The illegals can no longer pick the fruit? So who will?
nishikat
You are sure Trump will introduce visas. Where did you hear this????
HopeSpringsEternal
American public's support for Trump's secure borders and insistence that all immigrants be vetted, increasingly popular, in order to reduce crime, protect immigrants from exploitation, enforce rule of law, etc. See below.
Americans want legal immigrants, not illegals
Blacklabel
we are barely in the top 10 in the world in growing watermelons.
So “Mexicans” aren’t picking them in America.
Blacklabel
I haven’t heard a thing, no one has.
that’s why I posted multiple times that instead of listening to New York Times, we will wait for Trump to tell us, explain and give context.
or call out the liars at NYT once again, so let’s wait and see.
nishikat
Then how do you know the visa system will work?
lincolnman
So, our MAGA-fans here have provided this snippet...so they must believe it's true - even though a few posts down they try to deny it...
*"California, Texas, and Florida have the highest numbers of unauthorized immigrants, with millions residing in each state."*
Notice that's 2 Red States and 1 Blue...
So why didn't Trump send the National Guard and Marines to Florida and Texas?
Combined, they have many more illegals than California...
Could it be that POLITICS was a consideration? As in Newsome may be the 2028 Dem nominee?
Let's be honest here, Trump picked California because he knows it would enrage his bamboozled supporters - and the whole effort was to distract from Musk saying he was in the Epstein files and his BBB crashing and burning in the Senate...let alone leaks that Hegseth had tried to destroy evidence in the Signalgate debacle...
This is a typical Trump hustle...and an obvious one...he ain't foolin' no one except his supporters who he plays for auckers everyday...