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Reported guidance directing some ICE offices to pull back on arrests of illegal immigrants without criminal histories triggered backlash from policy hawks, raising questions whether the Trump administration is sending conflicting signals on enforcement.
The guidance was rescinded within hours, and Trump told Fox News there had been no change in an enforcement posture that prioritizes — but is not limited to — the “worst first.” The verbal guidance had been relayed to ICE field offices around the country, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter, though it remains unclear who initially issued the instruction.
Administration officials later characterized it as a misunderstanding rather than a formal policy change, and new guidance reaffirming there had been no change in enforcement policy was sent within hours. The episode nevertheless reinforced concerns among some immigration hawks who say recent public messaging from administration officials has suggested a narrower approach to interior enforcement than Trump campaigned on.
Mike Howell, a leader of the Mass Deportation Coalition and president of The Oversight Project, argued public criticism helped force the reversal but said the episode also fit what he views as a broader pattern of mixed messaging from DHS on interior immigration enforcement.
“[The guidance] was walked back, allegedly, which is great, and I think it was in large part walked back because people spoke out very, very loudly,” Howell said, while adding there is a troubling undercurrent to some of DHS’ messaging on the greater matter:
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As an example, Howell pointed to a tweet from DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin posted one day before the ICE guidance news broke, in which the secretary said the department was “not conducting worksite operations in Kansas” but was targeting criminal illegal immigrants and those facing removal.
The post followed ICE operations in Kansas that prompted complaints from Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., who said DHS had failed to coordinate with local authorities during operations in cities including Liberal.
“I’ve never seen a secretary put anything like that in writing,” Howell said. “[If it were] an Obama or Clinton or Biden DHS secretary, we would have called for impeachment if they said that.”
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Asked to put a finer point on it, Howell stated outright: “If Mayorkas tweeted that, I would have immediately called for his impeachment: for flagrant admission that they are not enforcing the laws and faithfully executing them — It was amnesty by another means.”
Howell emphasized that he was not calling for Mullin’s impeachment, but using the comparison to underscore how seriously he views any pullback from broad immigration enforcement.
He further argued that shifting signals are unfair to rank-and-file ICE agents who served during the Biden administration.
It remained unclear who originated the guidance, but Fox News was told it was a “misunderstanding” and that the person responsible would likely face reprimand.
A source told Fox News Digital on Sunday evening that the order “definitely went out” and that some immigrant-heavy Republican districts have seen anger over family members being caught up in worksite-enforcement removals. The source pointed to Kansas as an illustration.
“This type of ping-pong is deeply unfair to ICE, the men and women there tasked with actually deporting these people,” he said. “They watch the news, they read X, they see these mixed signals and it’s affected operations.”
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Mike Howell, Oversight Project at Homeland Security hearing (Screengrab/Homeland Security Committee hearing)
White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis pushed back, saying Trump has been clear that “no one is off the table.”
“DHS continues to deliver results for the American people including the most secure border in history and three straight months of a record number of ICE arrests,” she said, citing more than 3 million deportations thus far.
An ICE report also put deportations-per-month at a record high of 51,000 in August, while a source familiar confirmed that ICE guidance that went out was a “miscommunication” and not from the top.
Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for tighter immigration controls, said the situation is uniquely instructive because it comes at a time when factions of the Republican Party are at odds, whether silently or not, over the immigration enforcement issue.
“All of this comes on the backdrop of conflicting goals and messages within the administration on immigration,” he said.
Krikorian said the administration may have contributed to that confusion by repeatedly emphasizing its focus on the “worst of the worst,” even as officials including border czar Tom Homan have said immigrants without criminal records are not exempt from enforcement.
“The administration does need to get its story straight internally so that they can then present a consistent message externally,” Krikorian said.
He argued the larger unresolved issue is worksite enforcement, which he said is critical to encouraging self-deportation but creates political tension between business interests seeking labor and working-class Republicans demanding tighter enforcement.
Republican donors who favor the “loose labor market” that low-wage migrants bring clash with the working-class Republican bloc demanding tighter labor markets and stricter enforcement, Krikorian said.
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US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, along with other federal law enforcement agencies, attend a pre-enforcement meeting in Chicago, Illinois, US, on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. President Donald Trump has pledged to carry out the largest deportation effort in US history, vowing to ultimately deport all of the foreigners living in the country without permission. (Christopher Dilts/Getty Images)
Krikorian said he had hoped Trump or Mullin would clarify after the Kansas controversy that the administration was not “randomly” cracking down on employers, but conducting worksite enforcement based on intelligence about businesses employing illegal immigrants.
Several Republicans, including Marshall and Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., have criticized aspects of the administration’s immigration push ahead of the midterms. Krikorian argued that conflicting signals could also carry political consequences with Trump voters focused on enforcement – citing competing pressures between big-business and the base.
“You don’t tweet out that you’re not doing what voters want you to do,” he said.
Krikorian praised the administration’s border policies but argued interior and worksite enforcement create more complicated political tradeoffs for the Trump coalition.
After the Wire report broke, DHS responded in part “this is false. No one is off the table.”
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Trump named Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-OK, as the next head of DHS. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Fox News Digital reached out to Salazar and DHS for further comment.
Fox News’ Bill Melugin contributed to this report.