“I don’t like what I see”

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said on Wednesday that he disagrees with President Donald Trump’s approach to immigration, offering a rare public rebuke by a US corporate leader of one of Trump’s signature policies.

Dimon, who was speaking before a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, initially praised Trump’s moves to secure the borders of the world’s largest economy. Illegal crossings at the US-Mexico border fell to their lowest level in 50 years from October 2024 to September 2025, the BBC reported, citing federal data.

But Dimon, who has long advocated immigration reform to boost American economic growth, also pointedly pointed to videos showing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers rounding up people allegedly illegal immigrants.

““I don’t like what I’m seeing, five grown men beating up a little old lady,” Damon said. “So I think we’ve got to calm down a little bit of the internal anger about immigration.”

It is unclear whether Damon is talking about a specific incident, or more broadly About ice encounters.

In the first year of his second term, Trump overhauled US immigration policy with a focus on mass deportations, tightening access to asylum, and increasing spending on ICE staff and facilities. Among the torrent of new policies that have changed the landscape of pursuing U.S. citizenship, the administration also eliminated guidance on where ICE arrests can occur, leading to raids on schools, hospitals and places of worship.

Unlike Trump’s first term, American CEOs have mostly avoided public criticism of his policies. Wall Street analysts speculated that business leaders feared retaliation from the Trump administration, which has filed lawsuits against media companies, universities and law firms, and instead chose to appeal to the president away from the public spotlight.

On Wednesday, Dimon said he wanted to know more about the people arrested in the ICE raids: “Are they here legally? Are they criminals? … Have they violated American law?”

“We need these people,” Damon added. “They work in our hospitals, our hotels, our restaurants, our agriculture, and they are good people…they should be treated that way.”

For years, in annual shareholder letters and media interviews, Dimon has pointed to immigration reform as one of the key ways to unlock higher economic growth in the United States.

The veteran CEO of JPMorgan, the world’s largest bank by market value, had previously supported a merit-based system of green cards as well as citizenship for people brought to America as children, and backed away from proposals to limit H-1B visas.

Dimon on Wednesday urged Trump to allow citizenship for “hard-working people” and “adequate asylum” opportunities.

“I think he could, because he controlled the border,” Damon said.

Later in the wide-ranging interview, Economist editor-in-chief Zane Minton Beddoes told Damon she was surprised by how eager he and other CEOs were to talk about Trump.

“You are one of the most outspoken business leaders,” Beddoes said. “I’m really astonished by the unwillingness of America’s CEOs to say anything critical. There’s a climate of fear in your country.”

Dimon responded by saying he had allowed his views on Trump’s tariffs, immigration policies and stance toward European allies to be made public.

“I think they have to change their approach to immigration,” Dimon said. “I said so. What the hell do you want me to say?”