Trump Says He Told Officials To “Lighten Up” On Immigration Crackdown

This isn’t the first time that Trump has said this.

Last July, Trump floated a de facto amnesty for hotel, restaurant and farmworkers. The Trump administration acted on it too by making it easier to import guest workers.

CBS News:

“Mr. Trump said he told administration officials, “You got to lighten up,” amid a broad crackdown on immigration. 

“We have a lot of heart for people,” the president said. “They came in illegally, but they’re good people, and they’re working now on farms and they’re working in luncheonettes and hotels.” 

Mr. Trump said the focus should be on people with criminal records, but acknowledged that immigrants without such a history have been detained. 

“So in theory, they should be [deported], but we’re focused on the murderers, the drug dealers, the mentally insane,” he said. …”

Stateline:

“In a tacit admission that U.S. food production requires foreign labor, the Trump administration is making it easier for farmers to employ guest workers from other countries.

At the same time, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in recent months appears to be refraining from conducting agricultural workplace raids, even as it scours Democratic-led cities for immigrants who are in the country illegally. …

“To ease labor shortages on farms and ranches, the administration last month made changes to the federal H-2A visa program, which allows employers to hire foreign workers for temporary agricultural jobs when there aren’t enough U.S.-born workers available. Under the new rule, the Department of Homeland Security will approve H-2A visas more quickly. …”

Al.com:

“Immigration arrests continue to rise in Alabama and most people arrested have left the country, according to newly released federal data.

Roughly 3,300 immigrants from 55 countries were detained this year since President Donald Trump took office. That’s more than double the number from 2024. …”

Here in Alabama, ICE arrested a whopping 3,300 people in 2025. There was a single raid where ICE arrested 20 people at a single chicken plant in Alabama.

In order to appease the base, ICE has been focused on carrying out these confrontational raids in Democratic cities like Los Angeles, Portland, Minneapolis and Chicago, which is how Renee Good got killed. The raids are used to generate “based” clips and reels of ICE clashing with libtard activists. The clips are widely shared on X and create the impression that Trump is deporting millions of people when in reality he only deported around 230,000 people in total from the interior in 2025.

Note: There has been barely any change in ICE arrests in Alabama since Trump took over from Biden. It is like 100 more arrests a month.