It seems no one in the White House got the memo on President Donald Trump’s announced plan to ease up on immigration enforcement for farm and hotel workers.
On Thursday, the president took to his Truth Social platform to announce he would scale back deportations in industries like agriculture and hospitality, sectors that rely heavily on undocumented labor. But White House officials quickly contradicted him.
“I have not seen any instruction, anything that changes in the near future,” border czar Tom Homan told The Washington Post. At least two other officials echoed that sentiment, saying there’s no policy shift in the works.
One anonymous official admitted the post was meant to calm business leaders rattled by Trump’s sweeping deportation push. But they made clear that “no change” is coming. There’s no carveout for farms, hotels, or other businesses relying on undocumented workers. In fact, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement has already raided multiple California farms this week.
The mixed messaging comes as Trump cracks down on immigrants in the U.S. Recently, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem ordered ICE to arrest 3,000 undocumented immigrants per day—up from about 660 per day during Trump’s first 100 days in office. While officials insist the focus is on those with criminal records, agents are also making collateral arrests, scooping up undocumented immigrants who haven’t committed any crimes.
That crackdown risks breaking the very industries that Trump claims to want to protect.
From 2020 to 2022, roughly 42% of crop farmworkers lacked full legal status, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. If those workers disappear, America’s food supply could be in serious jeopardy.
Trump seemed to admit this in his post, writing that farmers and hotel operators are losing “very good, long-time workers” due to his administration’s “very aggressive policy on immigration.”
“This is not good,” he added. “We must protect our Farmers, but get the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA. Changes are coming!”
Later, speaking to reporters, Trump floated a vague policy shift.
“They’ve been there for 20, 25 years, and they’ve worked great, and the owner of the farm loves them and everything else, and then you’re supposed to throw them out,” Trump said, adding, “And you know what happens? They end up hiring the people, the criminals that have come in, the murderers from prisons and everything else.”
“We’re going to have an order on that pretty soon, I think,” he said.
The comments highlight a political bind of Trump’s own making. On one side are business owners and farmers warning that deporting their workforce will wreck the economy. And on the other side are MAGA diehards demanding he fulfill his harsh immigration promises.
And Trump’s base is tangled up in both camps. While many farmers rely on undocumented labor to keep their operations running, farm-heavy counties voted overwhelmingly for him in 2024. The Department of Agriculture defines “farm-dependent” counties as those where at least 25% of the average yearly earnings come from farming. Trump carried the vast majority of them.
Democrats see the confusion as a crack in the facade.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a frequent Trump antagonist, pointed to the president’s backpedaling as proof that protests and pressure are working.
“Let’s keep up the pressure, and let’s do it peacefully,” Newsom said in a video posted to X.
On the ground, though, panic is already speaking. Manuel Cunha Jr., president of the Nisei Farmers League, told the Post his nonprofit received over 20 calls in a single day from people warning about Border Patrol agents in California’s San Joaquin Valley. But they turned out to be false alarms—rumors spread on social media.
Even so, the fear is real. “If a Border Patrol [agent] goes into a packing house … tomorrow, nobody [is] going to work,” Cunha said. “Nobody will go to work. 150,000 workers. And what happens with the fruit?”
In trying to appease everyone, Trump risks alienating both farmers and immigrants in one fell swoop.