JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon expressed his disapproval of President Donald Trump's immigration policies, offering a rare criticism from a leading U.S. executive regarding one of Trump's core initiatives.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Dimon initially commended Trump's efforts to enhance border security in the United States. Illegal border crossings between the U.S. and Mexico have reportedly fallen to historically low levels from October 2024 to September 2025, according to federal data cited by the BBC.
Despite this, Dimon, who supports immigration reform to stimulate U.S. economic growth, appeared to reference disturbing videos of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actions against alleged undocumented immigrants.
"I don't like what I'm seeing, five grown men beating up a little old lady," said Dimon. "So I think we should calm down a little bit on the internal anger about immigration." It remains unclear if Dimon was referring to a specific event or speaking more generally about ICE operations.
In the first year of his second term, Trump has reshaped U.S. immigration policy to emphasize mass deportations, restricted asylum avenues, and expanded funding for ICE staff and infrastructure. Changes in policies also lifted guidance on where ICE arrests could occur, leading to operations in schools, hospitals, and places of worship.
During Trump's initial term, American CEOs largely refrained from publicly opposing his policies, likely out of concern for potential retaliations from the administration, which has been known to take legal action against media outlets, universities, and law firms. Instead, many business leaders have opted to engage with the president in private.
On Wednesday, Dimon expressed a desire to better understand the identities of those targeted in ICE raids, asking, "Are they here legally? Are they criminals? ... Did they break American law?"
Dimon emphasized the importance of immigrant workers to the U.S. economy: "We need these people," he stated. "They work in our hospitals and hotels and restaurants and agriculture, and they're good people ... They should be treated that way."