ICE Targets Rural Immigrant Workers on Streets, Not Just in Plants

Eliseo Affholter was walking home from his overnight shift at a Kraft Heinz plant in Missouri when ICE agents stopped him on the street, demanded to see his papers, and grabbed his phone out of his hand.

The 36-year-old is a U.S. citizen.

But on February 24, as Affholter walked through Milan, Missouri -- a town of 1,800 people anchored by a Smithfield Foods pork plant -- federal agents tailed him in unmarked vehicles. When he raised his phone to record the scene, an agent identifying himself as ICE asked in Spanish what country Affholter was from.

"From here," Affholter replied.

"Do you have papers? Are you legally in the United States?" the agent pressed, according to Affholter's account. When Affholter asked why he was being detained, one officer responded in English: "We have the right to assume that you're an illegal alien."

That day, ICE arrested three people in Milan -- two men from Senegal and one from Guatemala. None were arrested inside the Smithfield plant. All were picked up on roads or in residential areas.

A shift in enforcement strategy

Trump's deportation campaign has reached deep into agricultural regions that depend on immigrant labor, but the tactics appear to be evolving. Rather than high-profile workplace raids that drew backlash from agribusiness supporters, federal agents are now targeting workers in the communities where they live.

"They may not be going into the plant, but they're in the community," said Axel Fuentes, executive director of the Rural Community Workers Alliance, which supports immigrant food industry workers in rural Missouri.

There is no publicly announced directive formalizing this shift, but advocates and residents say the pattern is unmistakable. Workers are being arrested after routine court appearances for traffic violations, during walks to and from shifts, and in neighborhoods near processing plants.

The strategy may have been enabled by a September 2025 Supreme Court decision that broadened what immigration agents can cite as "reasonable suspicion." The ruling allows agents to weigh a combination of factors -- including apparent race or ethnicity, language or accent, location, and type of work -- when making stops.

"Some would say that the Supreme Court, in effect, encouraged ICE to engage in racial profiling in immigration enforcement," said Kevin R. Johnson, a law professor at UC Davis. "The truth of the matter is, I think that's accurate."

Johnson noted that such practices have long been permitted under precedent. In a 1975 case, United States v. Brignoni-Ponce, the Supreme Court ruled that agents cannot stop someone based solely on "Mexican appearance" -- but may consider it as one factor among others.

"I feel like I'm an animal"

Affholter, who is of Maya descent, was born in Guatemala and came to the U.S. at age 13. He was later adopted by a white American man and has lived in the country for most of his life. He speaks Spanish, English, and Mam, an Indigenous Mayan language.

In a statement, an ICE spokesperson claimed Affholter "deliberately interfered" with a federal operation and "verbally assaulted" agents, prompting officers to question his immigration status and request identification. Affholter disputes that characterization.

"I feel like I'm an animal, like I'm worthless," Affholter said. "Like I don't deserve to be here... because of my skin color, because of the language I speak."

Across Milan, residents told Investigate Midwest there is widespread fear that immigration enforcement will continue expanding beyond workplaces into everyday life.

The broader crackdown

In the first months of his presidency, Trump dispatched federal agents to farms and agricultural operations nationwide. The move drew criticism even from some supporters, who warned it would cripple industries that rely on undocumented workers -- who make up 44% of all farm workers, according to U.S. government surveys.

Trump briefly paused raids in agriculture and meat-processing, then reversed the decision days later.

By early February 2026, more than 68,000 immigrants were being held in ICE detention nationwide, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University. Most were arrested by ICE. Nearly three-quarters had no criminal conviction -- often only minor offenses like traffic violations.

"Since last year, we've seen arrests following routine court appearances, such as for traffic violations, where people are then transferred into federal custody," Fuentes said.

The enforcement expansion is reshaping life in rural towns like Milan, where immigrant workers are essential to the local economy but now face the threat of detention not just at work, but anywhere they go.