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Democratic lawmakers worry American farms will suffer under president donald trump Mass deportation initiative.
About 40% of farmworkers are not approved to work in the U.S., according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s National Farmworker Survey, and Democratic lawmakers are curious about who will step in to work in the heat or in the cold.
As a result, senators questioned Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, about whether mass deportations under the Trump administration will undermine the agricultural workforce.
“Can we expect this administration to raid farms and persecute immigrant farmers?” said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., during Rollins’ confirmation hearing before the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee on Thursday.
Committee Chairman Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., speaks during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
“Listen, the president’s vision of a secure border and mass deportation on a scale that matters is something I support,” Rollins said.
Rollins then vowed to help Trump execute his agenda, while also “defending” American farmers and ranchers.
“But when we talk about mass deportations, we go beyond dangerous criminals,” Durbin said. “I’m just wondering if we should give fair warning to farmers and ranchers across the United States that if they have immigrant labor, they can expect federal agents to come and search their property.”
“I have not been involved in the president’s current plan, I cannot respond one way or another,” Rollins said.
Trump has promised to take an aggressive approach to border security and illegal immigration, and the Department of Homeland Security issued an advisory Tuesday giving the green light. expedited deportation of illegal immigrants.
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Brooke Rollins attends a Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee hearing on her nomination for Secretary of Agriculture, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in Washington. (Jacquelyn Martín/AP)
Other Democratic senators, including Peter Welch of Vermont and Adam Schiff of California, echoed similar sentiments regarding the implications of mass deportation on farms.
While lawmakers acknowledged that those who pose a threat to public safety should not remain in the United States, they also said Americans are less inclined to work in the harsh conditions that agriculture requires than illegal immigrants.
Schiff said estimates suggest half of California’s farm workforce is undocumented, and asked Rollins how farmers are supposed to survive if half their workforce is cut, because “Americans don’t want to do that work.” , since it is “too exhausting.” As a result, Schiff asked who would work on California farms.
Rollins said he would work with the committee and the Department of Labor on the matter.
“We will work together to understand and hopefully resolve some of these issues. Dairy cattle have to be milked, but if we have a mass deportation program underway, then there is a lot of work to do,” Rollins. saying.
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Brooke Rollins, US President Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of Agriculture, testifies before a Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, January 23, 2025. (Kaylee Greenlee Beal/Reuters)
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle also expressed concern about how farmers will fare should Trump follow through with his plans to implement tariffs. Trump’s economic plan calls for imposing tariffs ranging between 10% and 20% on all imported goods.
When the first Trump administration imposed tariffs, China issued its own retaliatory tariffs that cost the federal government billions of dollars in government aid to farmers.
“I’m afraid this will hit our farmers again,” said Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan.
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“My commitment is that there will be no sleepers, that we will work around the clock to ensure that our AG communities across this country are represented in those discussions and at the table,” Rollins said.
Rollins previously worked as director of the Office of American Innovation and acting director of the Domestic Policy Council during Trump’s first term. After working for the Trump administration, Rollins co-founded the think tank America First Policy Institute.
The Secretary of the Department of Agriculture is responsible for agricultural and nutritional management, forestry, food security, rural development and agricultural research.
