ICE Plans Raids on Washington, D.C., Restaurant and Food Delivery Employees: Report
An immigration-focused news outlet, Migrant Insider, first reported on the planned raids, which are set to begin Tuesday.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement will launch raids on migrants working in the Washington, D.C., restaurant and food delivery industry on Tuesday, according to a new report. President Trump’s deportation efforts are one of the only issue areas where he has kept a positive approval rating.
Mr. Trump’s roundup of low-level employees in the capital’s service industry is likely to draw even more attention to the president’s mass deportation efforts, which have drawn the scorn of Democrats as they try to rebuild in the wake of their election losses last year.
The planned detentions were first reported by an immigration-focused news outlet, Migrant Insider, on Monday afternoon.
The outlet reports that the raids will begin around breakfast service time, with additional detentions taking place shortly before the dinner hour. Federal law enforcement will use information gathered from the employment verification Form I-9 to track down migrants working for delivery services such as Doordash and at Subway franchises in the nation’s capital.
In March, Mr. Trump signed an executive order aimed at making Washington, D.C., “safe and beautiful” under his leadership. That order created a new task force staffed by White House advisors and federal department leaders that would work with city officials to enhance federal law enforcement activity in the District. The third section of the order states that immigration laws will be enforced to the “maximum” extent possible.
“My Administration shall work closely with local officials to share information, develop joint priorities, and maximize resources to make the District of Columbia safe,” the order states, adding that the president will be “directing maximum enforcement of Federal immigration law and redirecting available Federal, State, or local law enforcement resources to apprehend and deport illegal aliens in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.”
The White House says agencies such as the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, the United States Park Police, Amtrak Police, and “other Federal and local officials” will aid ICE in its deportation efforts.
The March executive order targeting the nation’s capital further stated that federal resources will be deployed so that the administration can better monitor “the District of Columbia’s sanctuary-city status and compliance with the enforcement of Federal immigration law.”
Mr. Trump and his staff have aggressively embraced the impoundment power since returning to office in January, attempting to stoke a legal battle with state and local governments, as well as non-governmental organizations that have been allocated federal funds by Congress. Stripping money from so-called sanctuary cities was a goal in his first term, though it was never seriously accomplished. Now, the president and his staff are moving swiftly.
In April, the president’s staff put out a statement saying that the attorney general and the secretary of homeland security were working on a list of sanctuary jurisdictions from which the White House could consider stripping federal funds.
The deportation operation is one of the few issue areas where Americans are still standing with the president. According to a CBS News poll from April 28, just 42 percent of Americans approve of how he is managing the economy, 38 percent approve of his handling of inflation, and 41 percent favor imposing tariffs on foreign goods.
On deportations, meanwhile, the president is above water despite sagging approval ratings more broadly, according to the CBS survey. That poll showed 56 percent of Americans approving of his deportation effort, with 44 percent disapproving.