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Donald Trump won the presidency in part on promises to deport immigrants who have criminal records and lack permanent legal status. But his earliest executive orders—trying to undo birthright citizenship, suspending critical refugee programs—made clear he wants to attack immigrants with permanent legal status too. In our series Who Gets to Be American This Week?, we’ll track the Trump administration’s attempts to exclude an ever-growing number of people from the American experiment.
President Donald Trump’s immigration raids have disrupted life in Los Angeles in a way the mayor is comparing to COVID; they’ve created a climate of fear that’s driving people into hiding and hurting local businesses. This week, the president promised to expand those raids in blue cities, all in a futile attempt to hit 1 million deportations by the end of the year. After suggesting last week that ICE would stop targeting the agriculture and hotel industries, which disproportionately rely on immigrant labor, the administration also walked back that guidance.
And a troubling trend is emerging: As Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts get more aggressive and reckless, several elected officials who attempted to conduct oversight or question what is being done have been arrested.
Here’s the immigration news we’re keeping an eye on this week:
Agriculture Industry Faces Immigration Enforcement Whiplash
For a brief moment, it seemed as though Trump was finally experiencing a reality check when he admitted on Truth Social that his punitive immigration agenda would harm “very good, long time workers” within the agriculture and hotel industries. Immigration and Customs Enforcement formally directed its agents to stop all enforcement at farms, restaurants, and operating hotels—only for the administration to reverse that this week.
The Washington Post reported that Homeland Security leadership sent an email out Monday to its agents telling them it was rolling back its previous guidance from just four days earlier. Now, agents are being told to continue business as usual and conduct immigration raids at agricultural businesses, hotels, and restaurants.
The agriculture and hotel industries collectively employ millions of immigrants and stand to take a major hit if they lose these workers, something Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins attempted to convey to the president. Elora Mukherjee, clinical law professor at Columbia University and director of the school’s Immigrants’ Rights Clinic, told me this is a stunning reversal by the president and something Americans are indicating they are not on board with. In a Pew Research Center poll conducted in early June, largely before the recent wave of raids in Los Angeles and subsequent protests, 54 percent of respondents said they disapprove of increasing ICE raids on workplaces where people who are in the U.S. illegally may be working. And while immigration still shows up as Trump’s strongest issue in the polls, recent surveys suggest his support from voters is softening there.
“Overwhelmingly, Americans do not want ICE raids that focus on those without criminal records. That’s why polls show that Trump is losing voter approval on these key issues,” Mukherjee said.
United Farm Workers, one of the largest farm workers unions in the country, called out the Trump administration’s latest flip-flop. “A chaotic raid at a worksite and a warrantless sweep in our communities have the same outcome. Bullshit rhetoric aside, they’re hunting us down while we’re trying to feed you,” the union said on X. “Who’s actually in charge?”
Another Elected Official Is Arrested While Trying to Question ICE
On Tuesday in New York City, city comptroller Brad Lander, a Democrat who’s running for mayor, was accompanying immigrants attending their court hearings inside a federal courthouse, since the administration has increasingly been arresting people who show up for immigration proceedings. As federal agents attempted to arrest a man who had been the subject of an immigration hearing, Lander linked arms with him. The comptroller repeatedly asked immigration agents if they had a warrant for his arrest, but was not given an answer. Video footage shows agents ignoring his question and shoving him down the hall. “I will let go when you show me the judicial warrant. Where is it?” he asks as the agents push and shove him, trying to get him to let go. One of them pushes the comptroller up against a wall and handcuffs him as Lander says “You don’t have authority to arrest U.S. citizens.”
Tricia McLaughlin, DHS assistant secretary, said that Lander was arrested for assaulting law enforcement and impeding a federal officer, but a few hours later, Lander was released from detention. Gov. Kathy Hochul confirmed charges against him have been dropped.
Just days earlier, California Sen. Alex Padilla found himself in a similar situation. While attempting to ask a question during a press conference in Los Angeles where Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was speaking about the president’s decision to send National Guard troops with immigration agents, Padilla was tackled to the ground and handcuffed. Despite Padilla identifying himself to law enforcement, he was forcibly removed from the event, but ultimately was not arrested. DHS implied Noem and her security team simply did not know who the senator was because he didn’t identify himself—even though he did, and there’s video footage of it—and because he wasn’t wearing his security pin.
Last month, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested during a congressional tour of a federal immigration detention center in New Jersey. Baraka was denied entry into the facility and had walked over to join a group of protesters when law enforcement arrested him. Baraka was charged with trespass, and even though that charge has since been dropped, the mayor is suing.
New Jersey Rep. LaMonica McIver was among the group of House representatives touring the detention center, and she joined protesters as Baraka was arrested. McIver’s elbows allegedly hit an officer, whose face was completely covered, and now she faces two federal assault charges.
Trump Vows to Step Up Immigration Raids in Blue States
Back in April, Trump signed an executive order directing his Cabinet heads to identify cities and states that don’t comply with his federal immigration policies. Now he’s promising to ramp up ICE raids in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York.
Though Trump has long villainized governors of sanctuary jurisdictions, under the 10th Amendment, the federal government cannot “commandeer” cities and states to enforce certain federal laws, including on immigration. So a coalition of 20 Democratic attorneys general filed a lawsuit against Trump’s executive order, as it threatens to pull federal grants and contracts if states don’t comply.
In recent weeks, ICE stepped up its raids in Southern California, sparking protests that drew headlines. While most national attention focused on the protests in downtown Los Angeles, the raids themselves have created a climate of fear that’s keeping some people from leaving their homes—both immigrants without permanent legal status and people, including citizens, who are afraid of being targeted because of how they look. Local businesses say the lack of foot traffic is threatening their livelihoods, and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass characterized it as a “body blow to our economy.”
Other blue cities have experienced something similar after ICE raids. Back in January, Chicago’s second most profitable business corridor was nearly empty. Business owners in parts of Queens said they felt a noticeable drop in customers in the first months of the Trump administration.
The Associated Press also reported last week that Health and Human Services officials shared the data of Medicaid enrollees in California, Illinois, Washington state, and D.C. with Homeland Security. Each of these states offers Medicaid to non–U.S. citizens, but they use their own state dollars to pay for it. Several states extend Medicaid to their residents regardless of their immigration status, with some only offering it to children and pregnant women, while others also offer it to all qualifying adults.
Historically, Medicaid data is treated as ultrasensitive and never shared with other federal agencies, particularly for immigration enforcement. California Rep. Laura Friedman noted as much, posting to X that “We should never use a person’s need to go to the doctor against them. This will only lead to more chaos and pain in our communities.”
Harvard’s Fight Over International Students Is Heating Up
This week, U.S. District Court Judge Allison Burroughs extended her temporary restraining order against the federal government, preventing it from implementing Trump’s executive order banning international students from studying at Harvard University. So for now, one of the most elite universities in the world can continue enrolling foreign students, which last academic year made up about 27 percent of the school’s total enrollment.
This legal battle is far from over, as Burroughs’ order will remain in effect until June 23, but during a court hearing on Monday she said she’ll be issuing a formal opinion in this case before then. Harvard requested that Burroughs issue a preliminary injunction so it could still continue enrolling international students while this case plays out in court, while Justice Department lawyers stood by Trump’s order, arguing it was well within his authority to regulate immigration under federal law.
Harvard has been on the Trump administration’s chopping block ever since it refused to roll over and comply with a list of demands that would essentially allow the federal government deep oversight into the private school’s inner workings—unlike Columbia University. Government agencies quickly began pulling the plug on millions of dollars of research funding, and Harvard sued. The Trump administration decided to double down and again went after the school, but this time through immigration. In late May, Homeland Security tried revoking Harvard’s certification in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, which allows schools to accept and enroll international students. About two weeks later, Trump issued an executive order restricting any international students from attending the school.
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