Don't deport us?
U.S. farm industry groups want President-elect Donald Trump to spare their sector from his promise of mass deportations, which could upend a food supply chain heavily dependent on immigrants in the United States illegally.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-farm-groups-want-trump-spare-their-workers-deportation-2024-11-25/
Nearly half of the nation's approximately 2 million farm workers lack legal status, according to the departments of Labor and Agriculture, as well as many dairy and meatpacking workers.
Farmers have a legal option for hiring labor with the H-2A visa program, which allows employers to bring in an unlimited number of seasonal workers if they can show there are not enough U.S. workers willing, qualified and available to do the job.
The program has grown over time, with 378,000 H-2A positions certified by the Labor Department in 2023, three times more than in 2014, according to agency data.
But that figure is only about 20% of the nation's farm workers, according to the USDA. Many farmers say they cannot afford the visa's wage and housing requirements. Others have year-round labor needs that rule out the seasonal visas.
Some people I talk to feel that they are entitled to have an easy to exploit "underclass" of people who perform cheap labor for them to keep prices low. This is why they are opposed to raising the minimum wage or having any minimum wage at all.
Growing, producing, harvesting and moving food is extremely important, a living wage should be paid for all of those people who do that kind of work. Don't want to pay someone a living wage to make your food, then make it yourself, right?
Regardless of what side your on, do you want to see every illegal farm worker deported?
I think Trump will fold on deporting all illegals just like he did on prosecuting Clinton and building the wall. Does anyone think Trump will actually go through with farm worker deportations? share