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 The guidance was rescinded within hours, and Trump told Fox News there had been no change in an enforcement posture that prioritizes — but is not limited to — the "worst first."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: WHITE HOUSE BRINGS RECEIPTS AFTER MEDIA CLAIMS NONCRIMINAL ICE ARRESTS ‘SOARING’: ‘FALSE NARRATIVES’ 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." 'GONE TOO FAR:' GOP CANDIDATE RUNS TO TRUMP’S LEFT ON SIGNATURE ISSUE IN DEEP RED DISTRICT 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." EXCLUSIVE: DHS SECRETARY MULLIN SLAMS SANCTUARY POLITICIANS AS ATTACKS ON ICE OFFICERS SKYROCKET 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.
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