President Donald Trump’s administration is introducing a “work program” for America’s agriculture sector to allow undocumented migrants to remain in their jobs, a policy that risks angering his base.
Under the scheme, farmers will be allowed to vouch for workers who have entered the country illegally, exempting them from the president’s illegal immigration crackdown due to their vital economic contribution.
The existing H-2A visa program, which allows employers who meet specific regulatory requirements to bring foreign nationals to the United States to fill seasonal agricultural jobs on a temporary basis, will also be streamlined, according to administration officials.
A key reason for granting the exemptions is that, by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s own estimates, approximately 40 percent of unskilled farm workers in the country lack legal status, meaning Trump’s mass deportation push risks blowing a hole in a crucial industry.
A farmer in California told Reuters last month that she has already lost 70 percent of her workforce, with laborers fleeing in response to the aggressive actions of Immigration and Enforcement (ICE) agents in the Golden State.
Trump first outlined the policy on Thursday when he delivered a “Salute to America” address in Washington, D.C., flanked by Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue.
“If a farmer’s willing to vouch for these people, in some way, Kristi, I think we’re going to have to just say that’s going to be good, right?” he said.
The subject was briefly raised at Tuesday’s White House cabinet meeting, when Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer announced that her department, which is responsible for processing H-2A visas, had established a new office partnering with the DOA.
The president told the gathering that the work program would “give the farmers the protection they need,” but insisted that it should not be misinterpreted as an amnesty.
That might not be enough to convince his MAGA supporters, however, many of whom remain strongly opposed to any form of amnesty for illegal immigrants on “America First” grounds.
Far-right activist Laura Loomer has already attacked Rollins on X for pushing for exceptions for farmers and Turning Point co-founder Charlie Kirk has since warned: “If you want to break our coalition, go and push amnesty.”
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson attempted to dispel their concerns in a statement in which she said: “President Trump remains committed to carrying out the largest mass deportation operation in history by removing dangerous, violent criminal illegal aliens from American communities and targeting the sanctuary cities that provide safe harbor to criminal illegals.”
At a press conference on Tuesday, Rollins likewise insisted the program was not an amnesty and said she remained committed to securing a 100 percent American workforce for the country’s farms, adding that she saw technological advances and the redeployment of able-bodied U.S. benefits recipients to the sector as a longer term solution to the over-reliance on illegal labor.
“Ultimately, the answer on this is automation, also some reform within the current governing structure,” she said. “And then also, when you think about it, there are 34 million able-bodied adults in our Medicaid program. There are plenty of workers in America.”
Rollins also pledged to end relationships with “foreign adversaries,” such as China, by preventing their businesses from buying farmland and terminating existing contracts.
Addressing the realities of the present, Iowa Farmers Union President Aaron Heley Lehman told The Daily Beast: “The fear that some people in our communities are feeling doesn’t make for a better workforce.
“There’s room for a solution that will help our farms, help our communities, and be fair to workers, but it’s really hard to find that space at the moment.”
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