Trump Administration Halts Multi-State Farmworker Immigration Raids Amid GOP Division

President Donald Trump has reversed his administration's aggressive immigration raids on farms, hotels, and restaurants following strong pushback from agriculture allies and Senate Republicans concerned about the impact on the food supply and labor shortages. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins successfully lobbied Trump to halt the raids, emphasizing the economic harm to farmers and food suppliers caused by losing long-time immigrant workers who are difficult to replace. Despite this pause, hardline immigration advocates within the administration, like Stephen Miller, pushed to resume the raids to meet an ambitious deportation quota, causing internal tensions. Trump publicly acknowledged that immigration policies were hurting farmers and signaled changes were coming, while also directing ICE to focus enforcement primarily on violent criminals and sanctuary cities rather than farmworkers. Critics argue that the current deportation efforts extend beyond targeting criminals and disrupt immigrant communities, with some calling for legislative solutions like the Farm Worker Modernization Act to provide legal status for agricultural workers. The debate reflects a split within the Republican Party and the White House between business interests reliant on immigrant labor and immigration hawks demanding strict enforcement.