Migrant Farm, Restaurant Workers Could Get Work Permits

Immigrants working in the U.S. illegally on farms would be vetted and provided work permits under new efforts mentioned by President Donald Trump, the Epoch Times reports.

During a speech given at the Iowa State Fairgrounds on July 3, Trump said he was working with the Department of Homeland Security to figure out a solution for alien farm workers.

“If a farmer is willing to vouch for these people in some way, Kristi, I think we’re going to have to just say that’s going to be good, right?” he said, referring to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

Trump said the government does not want to take all workers off farms because, in many cases, some of the people have been working for more than a decade.

“We’re working on legislation right now,” Trump said, adding that alongside farmers, the government is also working with people who have hotels and leisure properties.

In an analysis published in April, KFF said, 47 percent of agricultural workers in the country were noncitizens without work authorization; 18 percent were noncitizens with work authorization; and the rest, 34 percent, were U.S. citizens. A majority were Hispanic.

According to the American Business Immigration Coalition, 73 percent of U.S. farm workers are foreign-born. These workers, it says, are “critical” to the U.S. agricultural sector, which generates more than $400 billion annually.

Who has work permits now?

A U.S. Department of Agriculture report updated last month said: “The share of hired crop farmworkers who were not legally authorized to work in the United States grew from roughly 14 percent in 1989–91 to almost 55 percent in 1999–2001; in recent years it has declined to about 40 percent.

Later at a press event, Trump followed up with additional commentary suggesting that there needs to be a different policy for illegal immigrant workers who have proven their ability and loyalty to their employers.

“So we’re going to have an order on that pretty soon,” Trump said. “I think we can’t do that to our farmers and leisure and hotels.”

In a June 12 CNBC interview, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said the president’s options are limited. Most of what needs to happen depends on Congress, she said.

“The president understands that we can’t feed our nation or the world without that labor force, and he’s listening to the farmers on that,” Rollins said.

By Naveen Athrappully with Epoch Times and with Auston Alonzo and Reuters contributing. Used with permission