By Brendan Scanland
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A major campaign promise for President-elect Donald Trump is seeing some pushback in the agricultural community.
“We will begin the largest deportation operation in American history,” said the President-elect at a campaign rally in Montana earlier this year.
Undocumented immigrants are a key component to the nation’s $1.5 trillion agriculture industry. Researchers, agriculture experts and farmers are growing concerned about what mass deportations could mean for the ag workforce.
“The vast majority of farmworkers are undocumented,” said Mary Jo Dudley, Director of the Cornell Farmworker Program. “This means that those farmers that depend on these workers to harvest their crops would be without labor.”
According to the USDA, nearly half of hired crop farmworkers in the country are undocumented. Dudley says there is not an alternative local labor force that is willing to do the jobs.
“These are dirty and physically demanding, as well as dangerous jobs,” said Dudley.
She says without hands to help harvest, there could be several consequences.
“That would lead to crop loss, food would become very expensive,” said Dudley. “This would likely lead to an increase in imported goods.”
Aside from labor impacts, Dudley said mass deportations could also carry major financial ramifications.
“Immigrants contribute $59 billion in federal taxes,” said Dudley. “And in New York State, undocumented immigrants pay $3.1 billion in taxes in 2022.”
Dudley says undocumented immigrants paid $25.6 billion into Social Security that they are unable to draw upon. Additionally, Dudley says undocumented immigrants paid $6.4 billion into Medicare and $3.8 billion to unemployment insurance.
“Of the $59 billion that go into federal taxes and programs- should there be a deportation of undocumented immigrants, that money would be lost,” said Dudley.
“It’s important to listen closely to what President Trump is saying. Initially it’s focusing on criminals, gang members,” said House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA).
In Washington, Chairman Thompson says his committee is working on legislation to ensure farmers, ranchers and processors have the help they need year-round, legally.
“If enacted would really help provide certainty for agricultural workforce which supports food security and quite frankly, national security,” said Thompson.
As the House Agriculture Committee works to support farmers, Thompson says he understands the pressing issues facing the industry.
“We’ve got their back. The Agriculture Committee has their back in a bipartisan way,” said Thompson.
Incoming border czar, Tom Homan, has said there is no other option besides a historic deportation operation. As far as what that will look like, and whether farmworkers or seasonal visa programs – like the H2-A program – will be impacted, it’s too early to know for sure.
