Trump Again Considering Immigration Relief for Farmworkers

USA Today’s Zac Anderson reported that “President Donald Trump again is saying he wants to shield farmers from the effects of his crackdown on illegal immigration, just days after his administration reinstated workplace raids on agricultural operations.”

“‘We’re looking at doing something where, in the case of good, reputable farmers, they can take responsibility for the people that they hire and let them have responsibility, because we can’t put the farms out of business,’ Trump told reporters June 20 while traveling to his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey,” according to Anderson’s reporting. “‘And at the same time we don’t want to hurt people that aren’t criminals.’”

“The Trump administration has been sending conflicting messages on the issue,” Anderson reported. “Under Trump, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been conducting widespread raids and arresting and detaining immigrants, many of whom do not have any criminal record. Trump promised changes to protect migrants in the farming, hotel and leisure industries in a June 12 Truth Social post.”

“Following those comments, Trump’s administration directed immigration officials to largely pause raids on farms, hotels, restaurants and meatpacking plants,” Anderson reported. “But the administration reversed course a few days later and resumed the raids.”

Lack of Clarity on Immigration Raids Leaves Ag Businesses, Farm Workers Uncertain

The Hill’s Ben Berkowitz reported that “Trump’s comments come one day after border czar Tom Homan said immigration raids would continue in the agriculture industry.”

“‘We’re going to continue to do worksite enforcement operations, even on farms and hotels, but based on a prioritized basis. Criminals come first,’ Homan told reporters,” according to reporting from the Hill’s Sareen Habeshian. “Asked what he would say to farmers concerned the raids will hurt their jobs and the U.S. economy, Homan said, ‘Well, first of all, there’s a right way and wrong way to hire workers. There are legal programs that bring farm workers in.’”

The Associated Press’ Paul Wiseman reported that “the flipflop (has) baffled businesses trying to figure out the government’s actual policy, and (Rebecca Shi, CEO of the American Business Immigration Coalition) says now ‘there’s fear and worry once more.’ ‘That’s not a way to run business when your employees are at this level of stress and trauma,” she said.”

“One ICE raid left a New Mexico dairy with just 20 workers, down from 55,” Wiseman reported. “’You can’t turn off cows,’ said Beverly Idsinga, the executive director of the Dairy Producers of New Mexico. ‘They need to be milked twice a day, fed twice a day.’”

“In some places, the problem isn’t ICE but rumors of ICE. At cherry-harvesting time in Washington state, many foreign-born workers are staying away from the orchards after hearing reports of impending immigration raids,” Wiseman reported. “One operation that usually employs 150 pickers is down to 20. Never mind that there hasn’t actually been any sign of ICE in the orchards.”

“According to the U.S. Census Bureau, foreign-born workers made up less than 19% of employed workers in the U.S. in 2023. But they accounted for nearly 24% of jobs preparing and serving food and 38% of jobs in farming, fishing and forestry,” Wiseman reported. “‘It really is clear to me that the people pushing for these raids that target farms and feed yards and dairies have no idea how farms operate,’ Matt Teagarden, CEO of the Kansas Livestock Association, said Tuesday during a virtual press conference.”

Roughly 40% of U.S. Farmworkers Are Unauthorized to Work

The USDA’s Economic Research Service reported in January that “the share of hired crop farmworkers who were not legally authorized to work in the United States grew from roughly 14% in 1989–1991 to almost 55% in 1999–2001; in recent years it has declined to about 40%,” the ERS reported. “In 2020–22, 32 percent of crop farmworkers were U.S. born, 7% were immigrants who had obtained U.S. citizenship, 19% were other authorized immigrants (primarily permanent residents or green-card holders), and the remaining 42% held no work authorization.”

“The share of workers who are U.S. born is highest in the Midwest, while the share who are unauthorized is highest in California,” the ERS reported.

“Legal immigration status is difficult to measure; not many surveys ask the question, and unauthorized respondents may be reluctant to answer truthfully if asked,” the ERS reported. “The U.S. Department of Labor’s National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS) provides data on farmworkers’ legal immigration status. NAWS data, believed to be of high quality, is gathered by trained and trusted enumerators who conduct face-to-face interviews with workers at their job sites and with their employers’ permission.”

Trump Again Considering Immigration Relief for Farmworkers was originally published by Farmdoc.