President-elect Donald Trump will take the oath of office for a second time next week, and has vowed again to make immigration enforcement a top priority.
That includes operations at businesses suspected of hiring individuals who are in the country without legal status.
Trump’s track record, and how workplace raids have occurred under past presidents of both parties, provide a blueprint for how they may work in the future. Here’s what we know may happen as Trump retakes the White House.
What has Trump or his administration leaders said about immigration raids?
Trump has promised his administration will conduct the largest deportation in U.S. history, prioritizing removing individuals with a criminal history or who pose a national security threat.
Tom Homan, Trump’s “border czar,” said the administration also plans to bring back workplace raids, which were paused during Biden’s tenure.
During so-called “worksite enforcement” operations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, agents arrest and detain individuals who are in the country without legal status. Homan has said workplace raids can help ICE agents identify human and sex trafficking victims.
“Worksite operations have to happen. Here’s why,” Homan said during an interview on Fox News. “Where do we find most victims of sex trafficking and forced labor trafficking? At worksites.”
There’s been a lot of speculation — but not much clarity — about when enforcement operations at worksites may begin.
Last week, NBC News reported that the Trump administration was considering plans for a large-scale workplace raid as early as Inauguration Day in the nation’s capital or surrounding area. But in an interview with the Washington Examiner, Homan denied such plans had been discussed.
Another plan the incoming administration is reportedly considering is rescinding a policy that keeps ICE agents from arresting individuals in places like schools, hospitals and churches.
It’s unclear how federal agents might cooperate with local and state officials. The Texas Newsroom reached out to the Texas Department of Public Safety to ask about its cooperation with ICE but did not hear back.
Did Biden or Obama enforce workplace raids?
During President Barack Obama's tenure, large-scale arrests at workplaces were ended in favor of prosecuting employers — but some workers were still arrested, according to Politifact.
Biden’s Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas also said his agency would focus enforcement on unscrupulous employers instead of workers.
However, just last week dozens of people in Kern County, California were arrested and detained by U.S. Border Patrol agents, according to several news reports.
The arrests included two child rapists, an individual with a weapons charge warrant and a person suspected of defrauding another person of $70,000, according to U.S. Border Patrol Chief Patrol Agent Gregory K. Bovino.
Border Patrol officials said the arrests were targeted at people involved in criminal activity, such as smuggling. Immigrant advocates, however, said some of the individuals arrested were farmworkers who were pulled over on their way to work and others who’d stopped at a local convenience store and gas station frequented by immigrant workers.
The arrests drew attention because Border Patrol typically doesn’t operate that far inland but rather within 100 miles of the border.
How have raids worked in the past?
ICE agents have conducted raids at all kinds of different types of job sites, from meatpacking plants to technology repair companies.
How the agency decides where to raid depends on a variety of factors. But the information it receives from others is key.
“Usually, in terms of worksites, we have some information – someone has come to us and told us, you know, that there are undocumented persons that are working there,” Paul Hunker, former chief counsel for ICE in Dallas, told The Texas Newsroom.
He said they often receive “intelligence” from an employee or are following up on a past raid.
In 2008, ICE raided Pilgrim’s Pride plants across the country, including in Mt. Pleasant, Texas. Hunker said those arrested were alleged to have stolen the identities of U.S. citizens to be able to work.
Other times, ICE agents will inspect federal employment eligibility forms filed by the company at worksites.
Once inside, Hunker said workers are grouped according to their status. For example, U.S. citizens are separated from non-citizens with authorization to work and non-citizens who aren’t authorized.
Afterward, workers are taken to a local ICE office, often by bus, where they’re processed before they’re moved to a detention center. Those who are detained have a right to an attorney but ICE doesn’t provide one.
Some individuals will receive a notice to appear in court while others might be scheduled for immediate removal.
Hunker said workplace enforcement actions are not quick and easy.
"There’s a huge amount of coordination with state and locals to sort of plan out the operation,” he said.
Haim Vasquez, an immigration attorney in North Texas, expects the Trump administration to prioritize removing not only people with a criminal background but also those who’ve already received an order to leave the country.
That “will allow ICE to deport or remove them from the country without having to go to court,” Vasquez said. “They already lost their chance to go to court if they didn’t show up or they already went to court if they got their order of removal.”
What happens to migrants caught up in the raids? What about the businesses where they worked?
The lives of those caught up in raids are often upended, especially if the worker is the household’s primary income earner.
That was the case in 2018, under the Trump administration, when ICE agents raided manufacturing company Load Trail in Sumner, Texas. About 159 people were arrested. In some cases, a worker’s family paid a $5,000 bond so their loved one could go home.
Others were released for humanitarian reasons and ordered to appear in immigration court at a later date.
As for the companies raided, many have not had to face severe consequences.
One outlier was an affiliated company of Load Trail, the company raided in Sumner in 2018. In February 2023, it pled guilty to felony aiding and abetting document fraud. Under a plea deal, the company agreed to pay $5 million in fines.
What about the broader community? How have family members, especially children, been affected?
Children of parents who are detained or deported can experience emotional trauma, experts say, and may be caught up in the child welfare system if they don’t have any adult caregivers left in the states.
Across the country, some school districts are already preparing for possible upcoming raids after Trump takes office. Some have asked parents to update their emergency contact information and have a plan for their children should something happen.
Some community members rally around workers and their families who’ve been affected by a raid. After the Load Trail operation, the non-profit organization RAICES provided legal assistance. A local pastor opened his church to families and volunteers providing assistance.
In the Honey Grove Independent School District, teachers, other staff and the superintendent collected donations after workplace raids in 2018 during the Trump administration. Superintendent Todd Morrison himself drove some family members to immigration court in Dallas.
Stella M. Chávez is an investigative reporter for The Texas Newsroom. Got a tip? Email her at schavez@kera.org or tips@kut.org. You can follow her on X @stellamchavez.
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