West Virginia Sen. Jim Justice said federal immigration authorities should exercise greater restraint when dealing with longtime residents, comments that come as he considers challenging Gov. Patrick Morrisey in the 2028 Republican primary.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
West Virginia Sen. Jim Justice is calling for a more targeted approach to federal immigration enforcement, warning that deportation efforts can go too far when authorities remove longtime residents who have lived in American communities for years.
The Republican senator made the comments as President Donald Trump’s administration continues an expansive immigration enforcement campaign and as Justice publicly considers another run for governor of West Virginia in 2028.
“Before you know it, you get people that get carried away in their job and whatever it may be, and all of a sudden, then you’re dragging people away that have lived on your street corner for 15 years, and I don’t know that we need to be doing that stuff,” Justice told Politico.
His remarks distinguish him from the Trump administration’s broader push to increase immigration arrests and removals. ICE arrests reached nearly 51,000 in August, according to government data reviewed by Reuters, even as deportations remained around 1,200 per day because of legal, logistical and diplomatic constraints. The administration has made increased immigration enforcement one of its central priorities.
Justice did not call for an end to immigration enforcement or argue that federal authorities should stop deporting people subject to removal. His comments instead focused on the manner in which enforcement operations are conducted and whether longtime community residents should be swept up in broader operations.
The issue has taken on additional economic significance in agricultural and food-processing regions that depend heavily on immigrant labor.
Recent ICE activity in southwest Kansas disrupted operations at meatpacking plants, feedlots, dairies and grain businesses after workers stayed home amid fears of enforcement actions. Livestock industry groups warned that the resulting delays could increase costs and further pressure beef prices.
The Kansas Livestock Association, Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association and Texas Cattle Feeders Association said enforcement activity was having a “massive chilling effect” on legal and documented workers as well as the broader labor force supporting the beef supply chain.
Several plants slowed production as employee absences increased, while cattle shipments were delayed and animals were backed up at feedlots. Industry representatives have increasingly urged federal officials to conduct immigration enforcement in ways that do not unnecessarily disrupt agricultural operations.
Those economic concerns have created pressure on Republican lawmakers representing agricultural states as the administration pursues its deportation agenda.
Justice’s comments also arrive as his own political future in West Virginia remains unsettled.
The former two-term governor said earlier this month that he is “100 percent” considering seeking the governorship again in 2028. Such a campaign could place him in a Republican primary against incumbent Gov. Patrick Morrisey, who is eligible to seek another term.
Justice first won the West Virginia governorship in 2016 as a Democrat.
Less than a year after taking office, he announced that he was changing his party registration and becoming a Republican. He subsequently won reelection as a Republican in 2020 before seeking an open U.S. Senate seat four years later.
Justice won election to the Senate in 2024 and began serving in Washington in 2025. His current Senate term extends through 2030, meaning a successful gubernatorial campaign in 2028 would require him to leave the Senate before completing that term.
Speculation about another Justice gubernatorial campaign has intensified in recent months.
Justice said during a Sept. 3 appearance at the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce Business Summit that he was actively considering returning to the governor’s office and would not allow the decision to drag on indefinitely.
“The considering all centers around just one thing—if we were to ask people in that room (Business Summit), ‘Have we lost our spark?’ A lot of people in that room would say that we have,” Justice said at the time.
He also expressed support for Morrisey’s success as governor while making clear that he had not ruled out challenging him.
“As far as Patrick and everybody here, I hope they knock it out of the park and they knock it out of the park every single day but we’ll make a decision and we’ll make a decision real soon,” Justice said.
A Justice-Morrisey contest has not been formally established because Justice has not announced a candidacy.
His latest immigration comments nevertheless add another policy difference that could become relevant if the two Republicans ultimately compete for the nomination.
Morrisey has supported the Trump administration’s immigration agenda and has emphasized cooperation between West Virginia and federal immigration authorities. Justice’s latest comments indicate that he favors greater discretion when ICE operations involve people who have established long-term roots in their communities.
The debate is unfolding as immigration enforcement increasingly intersects with economic concerns in industries that rely heavily on foreign-born workers.
Agriculture, meat processing, construction and other labor-intensive industries have raised concerns about workforce disruptions as immigration arrests expand. In Kansas, recent enforcement operations were followed by significant worker absences at beef-processing facilities, with livestock organizations warning that interruptions could affect both producers and consumers.
The Trump administration has maintained that immigration laws should be enforced and has emphasized arrests involving people with criminal convictions or outstanding removal orders. Administration officials have also defended broader enforcement actions as necessary to carry out the president’s immigration policies.
Justice’s remarks suggest a different emphasis within the Republican Party: continued enforcement coupled with greater consideration for how long individuals have lived in a community and the effects broad operations may have on residents and employers.
Whether that approach becomes part of a 2028 gubernatorial campaign will depend on Justice’s still-pending decision about another run for the office he previously held for two terms.
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