Reported guidance directing some Immigration and Customs Enforcement field offices to pull back on arresting immigrants without criminal histories was rescinded within hours after it ignited a backlash from conservative immigration hawks, exposing fresh tensions inside the Trump administration over how broadly interior enforcement should be carried out.
The verbal instruction had been relayed to ICE offices around the country, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter, though it remained unclear who initially issued it. Administration officials later described the episode as a misunderstanding rather than a formal policy change, and new guidance reaffirming that enforcement policy had not changed was sent out within hours.
President Trump told Fox News there had been no change in an enforcement posture that prioritizes, but is not limited to, the «worst first.» White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis pushed back on suggestions of a pullback, saying Trump has been clear that «no one is off the table.» She pointed to what she called the most secure border in history and three straight months of record ICE arrests, citing more than 3 million deportations overall.
An ICE report put deportations per month at a record high of 51,000 in August. A source familiar with the matter confirmed that the guidance that went out was a «miscommunication» and did not come from the top. Fox News was told the person responsible would likely face reprimand.
Despite the rapid reversal, the episode 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 that public criticism helped force the reversal but said the incident fit what he views as a broader pattern of mixed signals from the Department of Homeland Security.
«[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. He added that there is a troubling undercurrent to some of DHS' messaging on the larger matter.
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.» Asked to sharpen the point, 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.
«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.»
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.
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 immigration enforcement.
«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. He said he had hoped Trump or Mullin would clarify after the Kansas controversy that the administration was not «randomly» cracking down on employers.