Acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Todd Lyons appeared Wednesday on Fox Business and said ICE will crack down on U.S. businesses that “exploit human trafficking,” citing how the agency has found unaccompanied minors at some sites.
Lyons made the remarks while appearing on “Kudlow.”
Confusion on the scope of ICE raids began Saturday. Reports indicated the Trump administration paused ICE arrests at farms, restaurants and hotels. This, after President Donald Trump took to Truth Social to express his concerns. The administration, according to host Larry Kudlow, clarified ICE would resume arrests at all locations. Kudlow asked Lyons to explain his position on the matter.
“Yeah, we’re definitely sticking with President Trump’s vision and that we are focused on the worst of the worst, right? But under President Trump, we’ve been allowed to open up the entire immigration portfolio,” Lyons said. “So you have seen an increase in our worksite operations. You’ve seen an increase in our student visa screening, as well as some arrests.”
“But I think really on the worksite portion, what you’re seeing is we’re actually going after those American businesses that are, you know, exploiting human trafficking, forced labor, right? Things like that,” Lyons added. “I think the president and Secretary Noem, they would love to see American businesses taking advantage of the H-1B-1 visas, paying that extra money and giving these people a lawful pathway to come in to build American businesses.”
Trump vowed during his campaign to deport millions of illegal migrants that crossed over the border under the Biden administration. The president first focused on criminal illegal migrants.
According to ICE data from Trump’s first 100 days in office, the agency made 66,463 arrests of illegal migrants and removed 65,682 aliens. Of those arrested, three in four were criminal illegal migrants with records or charges including assaults, DWIs or DUIs and weapon offenses, according to ICE. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Trump Administration Claims NYT Report On Migrant Children Has More Holes Than Swiss Cheese)
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ICE agents have ramped up their arrests as White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem in May reportedly set a new target of 3,000 arrests per day.
On June 5, ICE released a statement saying that the DHS, along with federal and state partners, had launched a national child welfare initiative to locate and verify “vulnerable” children who crossed the border unaccompanied. Agents discovered instances of labor exploitation along with some facing physical and sexual abuse.
“But at the same time, we don’t want American businesses exploiting forced labor, human trafficking. We found some instances of some unaccompanied minors who were lost in the system that we have found at some of these worksites,” Lyons said. “So that’s what we are focused on.”
“We’re focused on the worst of the worst in the neighborhoods, especially ones in the largest sanctuary cities where a lot of these criminals are re-arrested and then re-released just to go and offend again. That’s what the President has us doing,” Lyons said. “We’re focused on those worst of the worst.”
In 2023, The New York Times reported the exploitation of migrant children used in brutal labor jobs. According to the report, caseworkers for the children told the outlet that vetting sponsors had been rushed during the Biden administration, as Health and Human Services’ checks on children had only been conducted over the phone.
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