In recent days President Donald Trump announced what amounts to an amnesty-like program for illegal aliens working in the agriculture and hospitality industries. But by protecting those who broke the law, Trump’s decision would undercut and threaten the businesses that do play by the rules and hire legal workers.
“Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. “In many cases the Criminals allowed into our Country by the VERY Stupid Biden Open Borders Policy are applying for those jobs. This is not good. We must protect our Farmers, but get the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA. Changes are coming!”
He later doubled down on the comments during a press briefing.
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“[Farmers] have very good workers; they’ve worked for them for 20 years. They’re not citizens, but they’ve turned out to be, you know, great. … We can’t take farmers and take all their people and send them back because they don’t have, maybe, what they’re supposed to have, maybe not.”
The Washington Post reported on Friday, however, that “no such policy changes are underway, according to three people with knowledge of the administration’s immigration policies.” Both border czar Tom Homan and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem indicated immigration enforcement operations would continue, according to NPR.
Nonetheless, Trump’s comments drew immediate backlash — including from his base, who were promised mass deportations, not mass exemptions. In response, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins took to X, posting: “Ignore the noise from the fake news media and the grifters trying to divide us. I fully support President Trump’s America First immigration agenda as stated in his campaign, starting with strong border security and deportations of EVERY illegal alien. This agenda is essential to fixing a broken farm-labor economy and restoring integrity to the American workforce.”
Rollins added that “severe disruptions to our food supply would harm Americans” but the administration was “prioritizing deportations in a way that will get us out” of the mess.
But her message rang hollow for Americans tired of seeing their sovereignty sold to the highest bidder while small-scale operations are already struggling to survive. In a post responding to Rollins, Meriwether Farms voiced its frustration, arguing that Trump’s decision puts big industries over small businesses, which struggle to compete. “We are sick and tired of you prioritizing the big industries over us,” Meriwether Farms said.
“We only hire US citizens on our farm and in our meat packing plant,” Meriwether Farms said in a separate post. “All of our full-time employees have health care. We can do this by being vertically integrated and diversified. Most small operations like ours rely on family members, hire locals or, on the rare occasion, use legal and seasonal Visa programs.”
“The recent order released by the Department of Homeland Security regarding ICE raids will only benefit the Big Packers and Big Ag, who exploit illegal labor. We are very supportive of President Trump and all he is doing for this country,” Meriwether continued. The post seemingly referencend internal guidance, reported by The New York Times, instructing regional enforcement officers to hold off on “work site enforcement investigations/operations on agriculture (including aquaculture and meat packing plants), restaurants and operating hotels.”
“However, if the leadership at the USDA is actually interested in saving Agriculture, perhaps they shouldn’t rely on information coming from the operations that are putting small guys like us out of business,” Meriwether added. “We are ready and willing to collaborate with the Trump Administration on how to deliver on his Immigration mandate while also protecting the small and independent producer.”
Supporters of the amnesty-type plan that Trump suggested often point to research that warns of disruptions if the agricultural labor supply is suddenly curtailed. According to a report by Diane E. Charlton for the American Enterprise Institute, “reducing the availability of immigrants for agricultural work will increase labor costs and eventually lead to new technological innovations that improve farm labor efficiency and even technologies that can mechanically harvest delicate fruits and vegetables.”
Charlton’s report stated that “in the short term, higher production costs for fresh fruits, vegetables, and other commodities will lead to reduced domestic production, higher levels of imports, less selection for consumers, and higher food prices.”
But purported “economic efficiency” cannot come at the expense of national sovereignty and rule of law. Americans cannot be expected to trade away immigration enforcement in exchange for marginally cheaper berries picked by illegal laborers who are being exploited for cheap labor by big industries.
If the cost of maintaining a sovereign nation is paying, in the short term, slightly more for food grown and harvested by American hands, then it’s a price worth paying.
Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2
