After Early Reprieve From Immigration Enforcement, Farming Industry Reckons With Raids

President Trump vowed to help protect agricultural workers just days after federal immigration officials targeted farms and meat packing plants in a widespread effort to detain people without legal status.

For months, the Trump administration has been sending mixed signals to the agriculture community about how immune their workforce is to the effort to conduct mass deportations. The agriculture industry is among those that employ large numbers of workers without legal standing to work in the United States. And in several communities, meat packing plants employ people with temporary protected status or parole, which includes work authorization, though the administration revoked many of those protections in recent months.