President Donald Trump told reporters that his immigration enforcement strategy is changing.
American farmers and hospitality leaders have recently expressed concerns over the loss of laborers who supported their businesses after the recent influx of federal immigration raids.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump acknowledged the problem- – saying: “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.”
“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!” the President added.
Trump’s new comments follow increased reports of immigration enforcement operations spanning a collection of American farms during the past few months, as previously covered by The Dallas Express. Now, Trump seems to be feeling the pushback from farmers claiming they’re struggling to replace skilled laborers who, while undocumented, have worked on American farms for decades.
It is a difficult debacle for the President, who is also overseeing the violent riots that have spread across the country over the past week.
Regardless, when speaking publicly on Thursday, Trump told the media, “Our farmers are being hurt badly. They have very good workers… they’ve worked for them for 20 years; they’re not citizens, but they’ve turned out to be…great, and we’re going to have to do something about that.”
The American Farm Bureau Federation welcomed the President’s refreshed remarks.
“We appreciate President Trump’s comments this afternoon recognizing the contributions of farmworkers who play a vital role in growing food across America, and committing to preserve the ability of farms to provide a safe and secure food supply,” said Federation President Zippy Duvall.
“Farm employees work hard every day to help produce healthy, American-grown food. If these workers are not present in fields and barns, there is a risk of supply chain disruptions similar to those experienced during the pandemic,” Duvall added.
Yet, some Republicans have expressed concern about the sweeping nature of current enforcement, calling on the administration to focus on individuals who pose a threat to public safety rather than law-abiding workers.
Rep. David Valadao (R-CA) called for more enforcement efforts to prioritize dangerous offenders.
In a post to X on June 10, Valadao said, “I remain concerned about ongoing ICE operations throughout CA and will continue my conversations with the administration – urging them to prioritize the removal of known criminals over the hardworking people who have lived peacefully in the Valley for years.”
The Department of Homeland Security responded to many of the statements with a brief quote to Axios saying: “We will follow the President’s direction and continue to work to get the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens off of America’s streets.”