Days after offering a reprieve, the administration has
changed its tone and said raids – including on hotels, restaurants and farms –
would continue.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – A few days after suggesting ICE agents pause
conducting enforcement operations at hotels, the Trump administration has
reportedly recalibrated its stance and told them to resume mass deportations of
anyone without legal status.
Officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement,
including its Homeland Security Investigations division, told agency leaders in
a call Monday that agents must continue conducting immigration raids at
agricultural businesses, hotels and restaurants, according to two people
familiar with the call.
The confusion began late Thursday, when Trump announced on
Truth Social that his “very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very
good, long-time workers away” from farms, meatpacking plants, hotels and
restaurants.
He implied that some accommodation would be made for
such unauthorized immigrants, which Tourism Economics said accounts for as many
as 30% of U.S. hotel workers.
Trump announced Sunday that the administration would target
large U.S. metropolitan areas, especially “sanctuary cities."