US Politics
Trump U-turn on deporting farm workers came after fury from Noem and Miller, report claims
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.
Read more
Donald Trump’s rapid flip-flop on not deporting undocumented migrant farm and hotel workers came after the president was reportedly met with angry pushback from Stephen Miller and Kristi Noem.
Trump briefly changed his mind on who ICE should kick out of the country after getting a phone call from Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, according to Axios.
Speaking at the White House on June 12, Trump said, “We can’t take farmers and take all their people and send them back because they don’t have maybe what they’re supposed to have, maybe not.”
Rollins reportedly went over Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to speak with the president. Axios reported the pair were angry over Rollins’ actions.
In response, Noem and Miller went to the president to change his mind. The policy was switched to meet their position and raids on those sectors resumed, reported CBS News.
On Sunday, Trump also announced the administration would target U.S. metropolitan areas, particularly “sanctuary cities.”
“ICE Officers are herewith ordered, by notice of this TRUTH, to do all in their power to achieve the very important goal of delivering the single largest Mass Deportation Program in History,” the president wrote on the social media platform.
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, doubled down on the president’s remarks, saying, “There has not been a change in our posture.”
Another senior administration official told Axios the president “doesn’t need to hear from Conrad Hilton to know about the hotel business,” he said. “He has his own resort.”
Almost six months since Trump’s inauguration, President Barack Obama still holds the record for deporting the most amount of migrants. His administration deported 438,421 people in 2013.
To break Obama’s record, Trump would need to double the current number of people his administration is deporting, but it’s unclear if that could be done. Trump briefly changed his tune on deportations last week.
At the end of April, the administration said it had deported about 139,000 migrants.
