Fox’s Martha MacCallum Presses DHS Official About Trump Deportation Flip-Flop: How is That Not ‘A Bit of a Shift?’
Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum pressed a top Department of Homeland Security official Monday over a significant shift in President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement policy regarding undocumented workers in the agricultural and hospitality sectors.
During an exchange with DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin, MacCallum cited a Trump Truth Social post last week in which he expressed sympathy for farmers and hotel owners who rely on longtime undocumented workers.
The president wrote that his “very aggressive policy on immigration” had been taking away “very good, long time workers” from these industries, positions he called “almost impossible to replace.”
The post sparked confusion among immigration hardliners and business owners. Reports emerged that federal immigration authorities had been instructed to pause worksite raids targeting farms, hotels, meatpacking plants, and similar employers.
“So I thought this was interesting when the president said this,” MacCallum said to McLaughlin. “And he was sympathetic to these farmers and also people who run hotels, you heard him point out there, who he talked about have had employees who, in some cases, have been with them 20, 25 years. And he said, that’s a difficult situation. And that’s not necessarily who they want to focus on. Can you talk to us about this sort of evolving policy and effort here?”
“There’s not been a change in posture,” McLaughlin insisted. “We continue to enforce the law. Our worksite enforcement operations are really the tip of the spear in getting these criminal illegal aliens out of our country.”
MacCallum pushed again, quoting Trump’s language about farmers and hotel operators.
“He says we can’t take farmers and all their people and send them back,” she said. “It sounds like he thinks it’s okay if some of them have been there a long time and their employers have a good relationship with them.”
After McLuaghlin replied that the White House was focused on deporting illegals, the host cut in.
“But hold on a second, Tricia, because I just want to go back,” MacCallum said. “He says we can’t take farmers and all their people and send them back because they don’t have maybe what they’re supposed to have. He’s talking about their documentation. So how is that not a bit of a shift? “
McLaughlin maintained the administration was committed to deporting all immigrants in the country illegally.
“There will be mass arrests, there will be mass deportations,” she said. “We will remove violent criminal aliens from this country.”
MacCallum replied, “Understood on that and you know just one more time on this he said we’re going to have to have an order on that pretty soon with regard to farmers and hotel workers have you any indication that there is a new directive that will be coming on those different areas that he outlined.”
Asked if immigrants working in agriculture were safe for now from being removed, McLaughlin declined to confirm one way or another.
“If the president has an announcement, I’m sure he will make it himself,” she said.
Last week, Trump wrote:
Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace. In many cases the Criminals allowed into our Country by the VERY Stupid Biden Open Borders Policy are applying for those jobs. This is not good. We must protect our Farmers, but get the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA. Changes are coming!
Watch above via Fox News.
