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President Donald Trump has ordered federal immigration authorities to intensify deportation efforts in Democratic-led cities while pausing enforcement actions in industries reliant on undocumented labor, a two-pronged move that reflects both political calculation and mounting economic pressure.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump on Sunday instructed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to pursue what he called the “single largest Mass Deportation Program in history.” The directive specifically targets Democratic strongholds such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York City, where, according to Trump, “millions upon millions of Illegal Aliens reside.”
“To reach this goal, officials must expand efforts to detain and deport Illegal Aliens in America’s largest Cities,” Trump wrote, just hours before departing for the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Alberta, Canada.
The latest escalation comes after weeks of heightened ICE activity, which followed White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller‘s directive that ICE officers ramp up arrests to at least 3,000 per day—a massive increase from the 650 daily arrests seen during the early months of Trump’s second term.
Industry Shielding Amid Backlash
Despite the aggressive stance, Trump also moved to protect industries vital to the U.S. economy. According to a federal official speaking anonymously to The Associated Press, the administration quietly ordered a pause on raids at farms, restaurants, and hotels following Trump’s concerns about how enforcement was affecting labor-dependent sectors.
On Thursday, Tatum King, a senior ICE official, directed regional leaders to halt investigations into sectors like agriculture, meatpacking, and hospitality—industries that had reported workforce shortages due to immigration crackdowns.
Trump acknowledged industry complaints in another post, writing:
“Our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace.”
The president vowed “changes are coming” to protect economic interests, while maintaining his goal to remove criminal undocumented immigrants from U.S. streets.
Nationwide Protests and Deployment of National Guard
The crackdown has sparked a wave of protests across the country. Demonstrators gathered under the “No Kings” banner in multiple cities on Saturday, coinciding with a military parade in Washington celebrating the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army.
While most demonstrations remained peaceful, police in Los Angeles deployed tear gas and crowd-control munitionsto disperse participants after the official event concluded. In Portland, Oregon, authorities used tear gas and fired projectiles at protestors in front of an ICE facility.
Trump suggested that his deployment of National Guard troops to Los Angeles was instrumental in maintaining control.
“If we didn’t have the National Guard on call and ready, they would rip Los Angeles apart,” he told reporters on his way to the G7 summit.
Balancing Politics and Economics
The policy shift underscores the tensions between Trump’s hardline immigration agenda and the real-world implications for American businesses that rely on undocumented labor. The president appears to be tailoring enforcement to target Democratic regions—a political base of opposition to his administration—while shielding Republican-leaning rural sectors and industries from disruption.
Still, critics warn that the move may further intensify polarization and invite legal challenges. Civil rights groups and Democratic leaders have decried the plans as vindictive and discriminatory, arguing that they punish cities for opposing the president’s agenda.
The administration has not indicated when full-scale deportations will begin or how ICE will execute arrests in densely populated urban centers.
As immigration once again becomes a central flashpoint in national politics, the country braces for heightened enforcement, deepening partisan divides, and further uncertainty for undocumented immigrants living in the U.S.
