Original Capital Press article

Published 12:33 pm Thursday, June 12, 2025  

By Don Jenkins

President Trump acknowledged farmers are worried about losing hard-to-replace workers as his administration enforces immigration laws.  

Trump posted on social media June 12 that farmers and hoteliers have been saying his aggressive policies are “taking very good long time workers away from them.” 

“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,” the president wrote. “We must protect our Farmers, but the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA. Changes are coming!”

Trump’s post came one day after several House members asked Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins about the administration’s plans to keep mass deportations from upending agriculture.  

Trump instructed cabinet officials April 10 to develop a program for farms and hotels to keep workers who are in the country illegally. The administration has yet to propose anything, however.  

Rollins told the House Agriculture Committee she spoke that morning to Trump about the issue. Trump is committed to enforcing immigration laws, but understands agriculture already has a labor shortage, she said. “There is a recognition that there has to be a balance.”

In recent weeks, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has publicized more workplace raids, in addition to continuing to  draw attention to arresting illegal aliens accused of violent offenses. 

California Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, Democrats, issued a joint statement criticizing widely reported ICE visits June 9 to agriculture-related businesses in their state.  

"We are deeply alarmed by the latest actions from the Trump administration targeting workers at agricultural fields, packinghouses and other facilities from the Central Coast to the Central Valley,” the senators stated.

Worker and Farmer Labor Association CEO Enrique Gastelum said he hasn’t heard of ICE raiding Washington farms, but rumors of pending sweeps are apparently contributing to a labor shortage as cherry harvest begins, he said.  

Three farmers called the Lacey, Wash.-based recruiter of foreign farmworkers this week looking for workers, Gastelum said.  

“Growers are very concerned,” he said. “Cherry season is the beginning in the Northwest of what we call labor-intensive harvesting and it keeps up into October.”  

Gastelum disputed Trump’s statement that “criminals” are taking farm jobs. He also said the administration should rapidly follow through on Trump’s promises to protect agriculture.  

“You just can’t break everything and not have a rebuild plan,” he said.  

National Council of Agricultural Employers CEO Michael March said concern is increasing nationwide that ICE workplace enforcement raids will affect agriculture.  

“The workers are scared,” he said. “We’ve been doing a lot of education with farmers and ranchers about what to do if ICE shows up. Essentially, if they don’t have a warrant they have to go away.”  

ICE released no information about enforcement actions on California farms, but in the past two weeks has announced stepped-up raids on other businesses, including a meat-packing plant in Omaha, Neb., on June 10. ICE reported detaining more than 70 illegal aliens.