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West Virginia senator says ICE should adjust tactics after 593 arrested

Sep 30, 2026

West Virginia senator says ICE should adjust tactics after 593 arrested
Photo via The Guardian

Republican Senator Jim Justice of West Virginia said ICE may be 'doing something wrong' in rural areas and should 'adjust' its tactics, following an ACLU of West Virginia finding that about three-quarters of the more than 593 people arrested during 'Operation Country Roads' in January had no criminal record. Cattle industry groups in Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma, along with dairy representatives in Idaho, have also raised concerns that ICE operations are removing longtime agricultural workers. Reports emerged that the Department of Homeland Security issued a directive to curtail arrests of migrants without criminal records, but DHS disputed those reports, calling claims of a stand-down order false and stating no one in the country illegally is exempt from detention.

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