A four-day federal immigration operation across southwest Kansas slowed some of the country's largest beef plants this week, delayed shipments of thousands of cattle and drew calls from both of the state's Republican senators for closer coordination with local police.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents worked Tuesday through Friday around Dodge City, Liberal and Garden City, stopping drivers and patrolling near meatpacking plants, according to local officials and community organizers. Dodge City officials said about 2:30 p.m. Friday that the operation had ended.

The sweep came as the administration tries to bring down beef prices, which are at records. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated that 105,000 cattle were slaughtered nationwide Monday, before the operation began. The daily count then fell to 100,000 Tuesday, 94,000 Wednesday, 90,000 Thursday and 87,000 Friday.

Four plants in the Golden Triangle

The three cities are known in the industry as the "Golden Triangle" of beef packing. National Beef and Cargill operate plants in Dodge City, Tyson Foods runs one in Holcomb, outside Garden City, and National Beef has a second plant in Liberal. About 22% of the nation's grain-fed beef supply sits in the region, according to the Kansas Livestock Association and USDA.

Community organizers and livestock groups said fear of arrest kept much of the largely immigrant workforce home.

"I pull into the parking lot, and there were less cars ready to come into work," said Deymi Anayela Martinez Lemus, a National Beef employee in Dodge City. "As soon as I came into work and I talked to my general foreman and my supervisors and realized we were so understaffed."

Union and livestock groups warn on prices

The United Food and Commercial Workers Local 2, which represents more than 2,500 workers at National Beef's Dodge City plant, condemned what it called "ICE chaos." The local had secured a new contract with a wage increase at that plant weeks earlier.

"ICE's targeting of these communities sows fear, instability, and chaos into the lives of those trying to make a living and feed our nation," said Milton Jones, the union's international president. "Local economies cannot thrive unless people feel safe."

The Kansas Livestock Association, Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association and Texas Cattle Feeders Association said in a joint statement Thursday that the operations delayed thousands of cattle shipments and cost millions of dollars in lost revenue. "These types of disruptions will lead to higher beef prices for consumers," the groups said.

Drought has shrunk the national cattle herd to its smallest in 75 years. The administration has tried to ease prices by allowing more low-tariff beef imports and opening an investigation into meatpackers.

DHS defends targeting as residents describe fear

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the operation focused on serious offenders. "ICE law enforcement has conducted operations targeting heinous criminals including murderers, rapists, and drug traffickers and illegal aliens with final orders of removal," he said, adding that ICE was not conducting worksite operations in Kansas.

Asked about the operation by the Kansas News Service, ICE emailed examples of what it called "the worst of the worst," a list of deportations of immigrants with criminal histories from the Kansas City area. DHS has not released the number of people arrested in southwest Kansas.

Liberal Vice Mayor Janeth Vazquez said dozens of people were detained and that 120 students missed class Wednesday at one elementary school. "Our community is a ghost town," she said. Dodge City Public Schools asked families to update emergency contacts and to tell the district if someone not on that list would need to pick up a child.

Frank Duran, who works at Cargill's Dodge City plant, said agents stopped him and his 20-year-old daughter, Guadalupe Navarrete, as she drove him home from work. Navarrete works at National Beef's Liberal plant. Both are U.S. citizens. "She's like, 'We're both born here in Kansas. We're legal citizens, Dad,'" Duran said. "They profiled us."

Ana Ortiz of Dodge City said her family had not been able to reach her mother, a National Beef worker who has lived in the United States since she was 16, since agents stopped the car taking her to work Wednesday morning.

Senators urge coordination

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., who is up for reelection in November, said federal agents should work with local authorities. "When ICE operates in Kansas, it needs to coordinate with our local law enforcement," he wrote on X. "Our sheriffs and police know these communities better than anyone, and working together keeps officers and residents safe."

Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said he raised the operation with Mullin. "Secretary Mullin assured me these warrants are only for the purpose of arresting individuals who have been charged with criminal activities," Moran said.

Both senators voted last year for the reconciliation law that gave ICE about $75 billion in new funding through 2029. Trump carried Ford, Finney and Seward counties, home to the three cities, with about two-thirds of the vote in 2024.

Marshall said he had no advance notice of the operation. Officials in all three cities said in a joint statement Wednesday that they "were not notified in advance" and had learned of the operation "as the presence of federal agents became apparent to the public."