Trump wants immigration raids at workplaces. What Idaho employers say

There was a sense of unease in Idaho’s dairy industry when President Donald Trump’s administration decided to focus on immigration enforcement at workplaces.

Then came hope, according to Rick Naerebout, chief executive officer of the Idaho Dairymen’s Association: On Thursday, the administration reversed course on targeting agriculture, hotels and restaurants after Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins lobbied for farmers who said the raids would hurt business.

But then, on Monday, the administration changed course again, saying agents need to keep conducting raids at such enterprises.

“We were optimistic going into this weekend that this administration understood and had an appreciation for the difficult position agricultural employers face, especially year-round employers,” Naerebout said Tuesday via email. “The reversal earlier this week was disappointing and discouraging.”

As administration officials first say one thing, then another, employers in Idaho’s agriculture and construction industries are waiting with bated breath to see if their businesses, which rely on foreign-born workers, will be targeted.

Trump campaigned on mass deportations, which he said will make America safer.

Immigration raids at work sites have already been divisive. Immigration and Customs Enforcement searched part of Los Angeles on June 6 for workers, sparking protests.

A lot of mixed signals are coming from the Trump administration, said Steve Martinez, the president of Boise-based Tradewinds General Contracting.

The construction industry nationwide is short hundreds of thousands of workers, Martinez said in a phone interview, and finding people to fill the gaps is difficult. In Idaho, Martinez said about 30% of construction workers are foreign-born, a percentage that includes those here legally and those who are not.

Moreover, the Idaho Legislature was “emboldened,” by Trump’s administration in the 2025 session, he said. Lawmakers passed a bill that allows local police to wade into immigration enforcement, which is typically the federal government’s role. The law was blocked by a judge, but Martinez said some workers and companies are still hesitant and fearful of enforcement.

“Everybody is on edge,” Martinez said. “Immigration for us is a Band-Aid on the labor issue we’re having in this country … for the time being, this immigrant workforce is crucially needed for the state of Idaho.”

Raids in construction, for example, could create delays and increase housing costs, Martinez said. If there were any raids, the word would get out and workers could be afraid to come to work, he said.

That’s exactly what happened in Nebraska on June 10, according to the Wall Street Journal, when federal agents raided an Omaha meat-packing plant. The next day, many workers didn’t show up for their shifts.

In construction, businesses can take advantage of the H-2B visa to bring temporary workers in for non-agriculture jobs. But Martinez said only the biggest companies are organized enough to take advantage of the program. Only 66,000 employees can come in each fiscal year, and as of March 5, the cap had been hit, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

In Idaho, nine employers brought in over 400 employees this year, according to a federal dashboard.

For the dairy industry, cows need to be milked year-round. However, there is no year-round visa program.

Idaho Farm Bureau spokesperson Sean Ellis declined an interview request but sent the Statesman some of the American Farm Bureau Federation’s points on immigration.

“Many agree that our immigration system must be fixed, but we also must ensure vital systems like farming and our food supply are not disrupted,” the federation’s comments said. “For decades, the federal government has failed to provide farmers and ranchers with a modernized system to sustain a workforce.”