STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
The Department of Homeland Security says it is still targeting industries that employ lots of people without legal status.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Employers in agriculture, construction and hospitality have worried about losing their workforces to immigration raids, and several raids last week heightened their concern. And even President Trump said he worried about losing, quote, "very good longtime workers." Now DHS has clarified what they intend to do.
INSKEEP: NPR immigration policy reporter Ximena Bustillo is in our studios. Good to see you.
XIMENA BUSTILLO, BYLINE: Good morning.
INSKEEP: Is the administration acting on the president's concern by calling off some enforcement?
BUSTILLO: You know, there really has been a lot of inconsistent messaging. And that really stems from - there's two schools of thought, primarily within the Republican Party, on how to handle workers without legal status. The first faction, you know, is really understanding that their communities and industries are heavily reliant on workers without legal status and that if those workers were just to go away, entire local economies and supply chains would fall apart. And these are in areas that are very red - Republican - and industries that generally back the president.
But then there's this other group. And it's the part of the base that wants to increase deportations, no matter what, no matter who. And these are the folks that hold very high-level positions within the administration - thinking, like, White House border czar Tom Homan, Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. They're pushing immigration officials to arrest up to 3,000 people a day in order to achieve the president's goal of mass deportations.
INSKEEP: OK, so that's the conflict. What has actually been happening on the ground?
BUSTILLO: So until recently, the agriculture sector had generally been left alone. But then, last week, we saw several instances of immigration officers arresting and targeting the ag sector. Particularly, 70 people were arrested at a meatpacking plant in Nebraska. Several farms got targeted in California, and a dairy farm in New Mexico as well. And that really sent employers and workers into high alert. The next day, President Trump once again promised to find a solutions for farmers specifically, posting on Truth Social that these workers needed to be protected.
But then again, this week, we're seeing the Department of Homeland Security double down again - kind of a bit of a whiplash for this industry. Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin has said that there's no safe spaces for industries who, quote, "harbor violent criminals," and that worksite enforcement remains a cornerstone of their efforts.
INSKEEP: Meaning that these raids can go ahead. Anybody can be targeted at any time.
BUSTILLO: Correct.
INSKEEP: So how are employers and employees preparing for that?
BUSTILLO: So advocates representing employers have told me that they continue to be concerned. You know, they underscore that they want to follow the law, and many times they believe that they are. But they say that even if they think all their employees have work authorization, they know that doesn't mean their families or their friends or people in their communities have...
INSKEEP: Oh.
BUSTILLO: ...Legal status. And that is what leads us into what the administration is calling collateral arrests, which means if one person is targeted, anyone that happens to be around them at the time that they're arrested also gets arrested if they have - you know, lack legal status or something needs to be questioned. You know, we still don't know what the White House's solutions are for the farming industry, despite months of promises that there will be something. But that also means there will be continued pressure on - you know, coming from some of these key industries in the United States that could be a hurdle for what the president wants to do.
INSKEEP: NPR's Ximena Bustillo. Thanks for the update.
BUSTILLO: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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