Farmers will be given some flexibility under the Trump administration’s mass deportation program so they can continue to employ undocumented immigrants at their operations, President Donald Trump said at a cabinet meeting today.
Details were sketchy, but Trump said farmers would be able to “come in with a letter concerning certain people, saying they're great, they're working hard. We're going to slow it down a little bit for them, and then we're going to ultimately bring them back. They'll go out; they’re going to come back as legal workers.”
“We have to take care of our farmers and hotels and, you know, various places where … they need the people,” Trump said after hearing from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem about the department’s deportation efforts.
By providing a path to legal status in the U.S., the process as outlined by Trump could signal a major policy shift and provide agricultural employers with some assurance that they will have a workforce.
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Ag employers, perhaps foremost among them dairies, had expressed concerns that Trump’s plans to deport millions of immigrants could devastate their businesses.
Chuck Conner, president and CEO of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, praised the announcement.
“I would like to commend President Trump for his remarks at the cabinet meeting today that recognize the critical importance of foreign-born farm workers to American agriculture," Conner said in a statement. "As details of this proposal become clearer, NCFC looks forward to working with the Administration to ensure that the plan works for all types of farmers and ranchers."
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This story has been updated with reaction from NCFC.
