ICE Raids in Beef Country Raise Fears of Higher Prices
Cattle industry groups in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas and two Republican senators said the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement actions were hurting operations.
By Kevin Draper and J. David Goodman
Sept. 25, 2026
Federal immigration raids in beef-producing regions of Republican states have prompted a forceful reaction from industry associations in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas, and unusual pushback from Republican officials just weeks out from the midterm elections.
The associations warned the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement actions “will lead to higher beef prices” at a time when prices of groceries and fuel are already top concerns for voters.
The most recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids occurred in Kansas, near the border with Texas and Oklahoma, and appeared to come without warning or, according to both Kansas senators, cooperation with local authorities.
“When ICE operates in Kansas, it needs to coordinate with our local law enforcement,” Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas, a strong ally of President Trump who is locked in an unexpectedly tough re-election fight, said in a statement on Wednesday.
That came just days after another Republican in a tough re-election campaign, Representative María Elvira Salazar of Florida, released an ad rebuking “immigration enforcement efforts” that “have gone too far.”
The enforcement activity began Wednesday morning, local officials said, in an area of southwest Kansas that is sometimes called the golden triangle of beef. The officials said they were not given advance notice and received no information about the number of arrests or the identities of those arrested.
“It has been really difficult,” said Keeley Young, the chief communications officer in Liberal, Kansas.
On Friday, the homeland security secretary, Markwayne Mullin, said in a statement that ICE was “not conducting worksite operations in Kansas” but instead had targeted “heinous criminals, including murderers, rapists, and drug traffickers and illegal aliens,” who had final orders of removal.
Ms. Young said it was not the first time that ICE agents had made arrests in the area, but this week’s activity seemed more widespread and less targeted. People were pulled over on the main road to one of the meatpacking plants, she said, causing shifts to be adjusted because of employees who were either already detained or afraid drive to work.
“There are people who have proper documentation and can be here legally that are afraid of going out,” she said.
A group of nine Republican state lawmakers who represent southwest Kansas voiced concern in a letter to Mr. Trump. “Effective enforcement depends on trust,” the lawmakers wrote. “Strong borders and fair treatment of our neighbors are not competing goals.”
The U.S. cattle herd is at its smallest level since the 1950s. Drought has persisted across cattle country. Tariffs and the war in Iran have raised the price of feed, fertilizer and diesel fuel. And in June, Texas confirmed the arrival of the New World screwworm — a fly whose larvae feed on the tissue of livestock.
“We need some help, and these ICE raids do not help,” said Sid Miller, the Texas agriculture commissioner and a Republican. “These people are not criminals.”
He added: “This couldn’t happen at a worse time for cattlemen.”
Groups representing ranchers — who have generally supported Republicans — are already angry at the Trump Administration for increasing beef imports and injecting uncertainty into cattle markets.
The raids helped give Democrats a new line of attack.
“Something has gone very wrong when schools are warning about children going uncared for and businesses are closing in fear,” said Adam Hamilton, a pastor and the Democratic nominee challenging Senator Marshall.
In a joint statement, groups representing ranchers in Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma said they understand federal agencies have to enforce the law, but they called the enforcement activity “a costly and unnecessary impact to cattle producers already suffering from unwelcome political interference to both the markets as well as the physical supply chain.”
“These ICE operations are having a massive chilling effect on the legal, documented, skilled workers that put beef on the table,” the Kansas Livestock Association, Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association and Texas Cattle Feeders Association said.
While the meatpacking plants are in Kansas, they support a supply chain of feedlots and ranchers that stretch across hundreds of miles and a number of states.
The groups said “in recent days” the enforcement actions have delayed the shipment of thousands of cattle to processors, “resulting in millions of dollars in lost revenue and additional costs,” as well as “work force disruptions” at feed yards, dairies, feed and grain companies and transportation hubs.
Mr. Miller said the message of the statement was clear: “It means, it hurts. Stop. Don’t do this.”
Around a quarter of the country’s beef production comes from major slaughterhouses in the area, which are owned by National Beef, Tyson Foods and Cargill and employ more than 10,000 people.
Tyson’s and Cargill did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for National Beef said the company was “committed to doing business the right way” and was providing “legally appropriate cooperation and attempting to work through this process with the Department of Homeland Security in an orderly way.”
Kevin Draper is a business correspondent covering the agriculture industry. He can be reached at kevin.draper@nytimes.com or kevin.draper@protonmail.com.
J. David Goodman is the Texas bureau chief for The Times, based in Houston.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/25/us/politics/ice-raids-kansas-texas-oklahoma-beef-prices.html
For a deeper understanding of the immigration issue see the following:
Our Town: The Economist’s Report
Our Town – Part One
Ira Glass writes: One thing we were excited for, in reporting our two shows about Albertville, was that we could take the claims that many politicians have made about immigrants stealing jobs and driving down wages in Alabama poultry plants, and for once put their claims to the test. Find out if they were right or not.
One of the leading researchers on the economic effects of immigrants, Giovanni Peri, agreed to help us out. We ran his results by several other economists, from different sides of the ideological spectrum, and they assured us the work is solid. Peri would be the first to caution, that any study looking at such a small population doesn’t have the robustness researchers always prefer. There’s more margin for error. But this is what can scientifically be said about the effect of immigrants on the area around one Alabama city.
Listen: Our Town – Part One; Part Two December 15, 2017.
Because most American citizens think they are too good to do the work that our H2A and some illegals will do . Spanish families are all about looking out for each other other and their neighbors too . They work hard and pay taxes . Let them be . Agreed the bad actors need to go .
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