Republicans, conservatives and Trumpers were horrified to learn earlier this month — in the wake of the pro-illegal immigration L.A. riots, no less — that the Trump administration had decided to suspend ICE enforcement and deportation raids at hotels, restaurants and farms. This tactical retreat from what has been, up to now, a no holds barred, zero-tolerance approach to curbing illegal immigration, was apparently the brainchild of Brooke Rollins, Trump’s secretary of agriculture and a pro-business Republican.

That some in the administration wish to soft-pedal the deportation of valuable (and cheap) workers, in the interest of maximizing corporate profits, can’t come as a surprise. About 5% of U.S. workers are illegal aliens, and some businesses are totally reliant on the work they do. What did shock many, however, was that President Donald Trump posted about the move on Truth Social, seeming to brag about his newfound flexibility and inclination to mercy when it comes to certain forms of illegal immigration.

Not without good reason, many conservatives found this change of direction as galling as it was inexplicable.

For decades, the Achilles’ heel of all efforts to limit or end illegal immigration has been the unwillingness of either Democrats or Republicans to deprive American businesses of the vast supply of cheap, illegal labor that constantly renews itself, thanks to our hitherto insecure southern border. Even Trump, in his first term, did not distinguish himself as a draconian enforcer of our numerous laws criminalizing the hiring of illegal aliens as workers. Few businesses were charged with related crimes, and only a couple of thousand illegal workers were swept up in workplace raids.

Perhaps Trump’s attitude in those days was that “the Wall” would, by itself, solve the illegal immigration problem and thus inconveniencing the GOP’s corporate allies, who so often hire illegals, was unnecessary. If so, this was a naive approach, because cutting off government benefits and job opportunities for illegals is the only lasting, definitive way to solve the problem.

Simply put, the almighty dollar is the chief incentive for illegal aliens to come to the U.S. in the first place, and no administration since that of Dwight Eisenhower in the 1950s has had particular success in taking away this incentive — and nor has any president since Eisenhower tried very hard to do so.

Nonetheless, despite Trump’s lassitude in 2017-21 in arresting illegal alien workers — and more importantly their shameless, greedy employers — Republicans, conservatives and Trump supporters had a right to expect that the Trump administration’s focus, energy and, yes, ruthlessness with respect to worksite enforcement would be redoubled this time around. The announcement that hotels, restaurants and farms would get a pass, therefore, was a terrible disappointment. Luckily, the firestorm of outrage that this move generated had the desired effect: almost immediately, the Department of Homeland Security announced that raids on all types of businesses would continue, and no industry would be immune from the illegal immigration crackdown.

While Trump himself did not lay particular emphasis on this policy climbdown, one assumes that the president is keenly aware of the need to maintain his credibility, including his reputation as the toughest enforcer of our nation’s immigration laws in living memory — a major source of Trump’s popularity and a central element of his agenda. After all, his most notable success in immigration policy to date, the virtual cessation of illegal crossings at the southern border, is a consequence not of robust enforcement by the Border Patrol, but is more accurately the result of a psychological sea change among the migrants and potential migrants themselves. They no longer are coming across our border because they no longer believe that the U.S. government will turn a blind eye and let them stay.

In other words, they fear Trump, because of his toughness and, let it be said, hard-heartedness.

Sadly, that image was dealt a setback by the confusing policy zigzags on the question of workplace immigration raids. Giving some categories of businesses a blanket assurance that they could violate our nation’s laws with impunity, because to do anything else would be expensive and inconvenient, was clearly a mistake. Reversing that decision, although embarrassing, was the right thing to do.

With that reversal, the Trump crackdown on illegal immigration is back on track, and the American people can hold out hope that our long open borders nightmare may soon come to a conclusive end.

(Dr. Nicholas L. Waddy is an associate professor of history at Alfred State College and blogs at waddyisright.com.)