Fulfilling a signature promise of his campaign, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and “to repatriate illegal aliens swiftly, consistently and humanely.” More than one-half of farm workers are believed to be undocumented; the largest U.S. farm group said lawmakers might be more willing to discuss immigration reform if border security is strengthened.
Conservative Republicans have demanded that undisputed control of the border be obtained before any other step of immigration reform. The Senate passed a comprehensive reform bill in 2013, but House Republican leaders refused to call a vote on it.
Immigration is on the administration’s list of top items for congressional action this year, along with healthcare, tax reform and regulatory reform. In the executive order on the wall and a companion order on enforcement, Trump called for 15,000 additional immigration and border patrol agents and for empowering local police to enforce immigration law. Priority for deportation would go to criminal aliens, aliens accused of crime and those believed to pose a risk to public safety or national security.
Kristi Boswell of the American Farm Bureau Federation said the group hopes the executive orders lead to dialogue on Capitol Hill by resolving the question of border security. The AFBF says a new, more flexible guest worker program is needed along with an “adjustment of status” for undocumented farm workers, recognizing their presence in the country, to assure that farmers and ranchers have a reliable labor pool.
“President Trump and the administration have said to us they understand that agriculture has unique needs and we will have a seat at the table,” said Boswell.
During the campaign, Trump called strongly for removal of the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country, beginning as soon as he took office. A senior advisor, Sam Clovis, told farm audiences that a Trump administration would work with agriculture to prevent disruptions. Besides the exhausting labor of harvesting fruits and vegetables, farm workers are employed year-round on livestock farms with daily chores of feeding and caring for animals or milking cows.
“So if today’s executive orders from Donald Trump signal the beginning of fulfilling his oft-repeated campaign pledge to deport the undocumented, then who is going to feed America?” said president Arturo Rodriguez of he United Farm Workers union. “Who is going to feed the guests at Trump hotels and golf courses? Who is going to feed Donald Trump?”
Trump signed the executive orders during a visit to the Homeland Security Department headquarters. “A nation without borders is not a nation. Beginning today, the United States of America gets back control as it gets back its borders,” said the president.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer said NAFTA and the border wall will be discussed when Trump meets Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto next week. Following the announcement of the executive orders, “Former officials and top Mexican politicians across the political spectrum demanded that Peña Nieto cancel his visit with Trump after what many considered a slap in the face,” said the Washington Post.