One of the key platforms President Donald Trump campaigned on — in all three general elections he’s been involved with, for that matter — was a hardline stance against illegal immigration.
While he may have been a bit stymied on that front during his first term, Trump’s second term has seen the president put his money where his mouth is, with sweeping empowerment of agencies like the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security.
In fact, Trump’s second term has seen such sweeping immigration reform, it’s literally triggered entire sanctuary cities, like Los Angeles, which has been in the throes of anti-ICE riots.
Amid all of this chaos, however, is it possible the president has suddenly softened his stance — albeit every so slightly — on illegal immigration?
A recent Truth Social post from the president sure seemed to suggest that is the case:
Donald J. Trump Truth Social 06.12.25 09:43 AM EST pic.twitter.com/UVZzNs5MNp
— Commentary Donald J. Trump Posts From Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) June 12, 2025
“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,” Trump posted Thursday.
The president then elaborated on a secondary issue this was creating: “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.
Do you agree with Trump on this?
“Changes are coming!”
Critics and supporters of Trump alike have pounced on this seeming change of heart.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom — who’s engaged in a war of words with the president over the L.A. riots — unsurprisingly took a victory lap (Newsom argues that Trump’s deployment of the National Guard and Marines escalated the tensions in California) after Trump’s post.
Turns out, chasing hard working people through ranches and farms and snatching women and children off the streets is not good policy. pic.twitter.com/DPoGvyhDvv
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) June 12, 2025
“Turns out, chasing hard working people through ranches and farms and snatching women and children off the streets is not good policy,” Newsom snidely remarked, while failing to address the criminal element that drew a federal response in the first place.
(There also appears to be a bit of embellishment from Newsom, as there’s no evidence the Trump administration is wantonly “snatching women and children off the streets.”)
Perhaps even less surprising than Newsom’s barb was the outpouring of fury from conservatives, who still maintain that aforementioned hardline stance on immigration.
The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh is one such furious conservative:
Employers who knowingly rely on illegal immigrant labor should be in prison. Instead we’re going to back off of immigration enforcement for their sake? Hell no. We can’t tolerate this. pic.twitter.com/nWjeugQyY5
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) June 12, 2025
“Employers who knowingly rely on illegal immigrant labor should be in prison,” Walsh posted to X. “Instead we’re going to back off of immigration enforcement for their sake? Hell no. We can’t tolerate this.”
“‘Americans won’t do these jobs!’” Walsh continued in a follow-up. “Bulls***. They won’t be your slave labor. That’s the issue here. There are plenty of Americans able and willing to work on a farm.
“They just won’t do it for 50 cents an hour or whatever you’re paying your army of illegals who can’t speak English.”
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