President Donald Trump hinted on the 5th that he would introduce a touchback program that would allow undocumented farm workers to leave the United States and then re-enter the country legally.
Amidst the conflict between the U.S. agricultural sector’s reliance on undocumented workers and the policy of deporting undocumented workers, President Trump announced on the 5th that he would soon announce new regulations for migrant farm workers.
The president stated that while he would continue to deport undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes, he wanted to work with farm owners to find solutions for workers who have been in the U.S. illegally and paid taxes for decades. President Trump has stated that he will not leave farms without workers, stating that he is developing a touchback program that would, in some cases, send farmers back to their home countries and then provide them with a pass to legally re-enter the United States.
The White House has been discussing various policy proposals for months to meet farm labor needs while avoiding the appearance of amnesty for undocumented workers. The administration has also discussed expanding H-2A visas to non-seasonal agricultural sectors like dairy, but this would not be enough to replace the approximately 320,000 undocumented immigrant farm workers already in the United States. However, immigration hardliners remain critical of the touchback program and the idea of granting legal status to farm workers, arguing that making exceptions for certain industries amounts to amnesty.
President Trump has emphasized the difficulty of replacing farm jobs, pointing out that legal immigrants living in cities do not work on farms. He has pointed out that legal immigrants living in cities have tried repeatedly to get farm work but ultimately quit.
President Trump recently asked a farmer he met, “What if you hurt your back while working?” The farmer replied, “I don’t hurt my back because it means I’m dead,” which he found quite peculiar. He added, “In many ways, they are truly special people.”