Trump ramps up immigration rhetoric days after softening on migrant workers
President Donald Trump took to social media on Sunday, June 15, to reignite his hardline immigration stance, promising the largest mass deportations in U.S. history. Posting on his Truth Social platform, Trump stated, “Nothing will stop us from executing our mission.”
Who did Trump call out?
Trump didn’t just tout mass deportations; he targeted Democratic-led cities, such as Los Angeles, Chicago and New York, saying, “We must expand efforts to detain and deport Illegal Aliens in America’s largest cities… These, and other such cities, are the core of the Democratic 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.”
He accused Democrats of hating the country and echoed themes of election fraud and economic sabotage — comments that sparked immediate backlash amid nationwide pro-immigrant rallies over the weekend branded “No Kings.”
Shift in tone since Thursday
Trump’s tone marked a sharp reversal from a more measured message just days earlier when he acknowledged the aggressive immigration enforcement was hurting key U.S. industries.
In another post to social media on Thursday, June 12, the president stated, “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.”
As Straight Arrow News reported during the weekend of June 13, citing The New York Times, a senior ICE official instructed agents during the week of June 8 to pause worksite raids at farms, meatpacking plants and hospitality businesses. Agents were also reportedly told to stop arresting immigrants in the country illegally without criminal records.
What about future immigration raids?
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the guidance but clarified that ICE will continue to target immigrants in the country illegally that have criminal records.
DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin told NBC, “We will follow the president’s direction and continue to work to get the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens off of America’s streets.”
Internal pressure is also mounting. NBC reports that White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller ordered ICE to arrest at least 3,000 immigrants in the country illegally per day.
Since Trump’s return to office in January, raids have increased across smaller businesses — including a roofing company in Bellingham, Washington, a small equipment manufacturer in South Dakota and, just last week, a meatpacking company in Omaha, Nebraska.
In the Nebraska case, ICE agents were seeking identification and documentation from workers at Glenn Valley Foods in Omaha before taking at least 70 into custody and driving off the premises as protesters tried to stop them.
What happens next?
Politico has pointed out that Trump’s seemingly softer tone last week when it comes to farmers and hospitality industry workers drew backlash from some hardline supporters who want him to push forward with his mass deportation plan, and he responded with Sunday’s post on Truth Social.
He wrote, “I have directed my entire Administration to put every resource possible behind this effort and reverse the tide of Mass Destruction Migration.”
The contrast between policy directives and campaign rhetoric has raised questions about how far the administration will go and whether Trump’s dual messaging is a political pivot or just a preview of more to come.
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
