Dems ask Trump USDA pick who will do 'backbreaking' farming amid mass deportations

Democratic lawmakers are disquieted American farms volition endure nether President Donald Trump’s wide deportation initiative.

Approximately 40% of harvest farmworkers are not approved to enactment successful the U.S., according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s National Agricultural Workers Survey, and Democratic lawmakers are funny astir who volition measurement successful to enactment successful the vigor oregon cold. 

As a result, senators questioned Trump’s prime to pb the Agriculture Department, Brooke Rollins, astir whether wide deportation nether the Trump medication volition undermine the farming workforce. 

"Can we expect this medication to beryllium raiding farms, going aft the migrant farmers?" Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said during Rollins’ confirmation proceeding earlier the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee Thursday. 

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Committee president Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., speaks during a proceeding of the Senate Committee connected the Judiciary connected Capitol Hill, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, successful Washington.  (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

"Listen, the president’s imaginativeness of a unafraid borderline and a wide deportation astatine a standard that matters is thing I support," Rollins said. 

Rollins past promised to assistance Trump execute his agenda, portion besides "defending" American farmers and ranchers. 

"But erstwhile you’re talking astir monolithic deportation, we’ve gone beyond unsafe criminals," Durbin said. "I conscionable wonderment if we ought to springiness just informing to farmers and ranchers crossed America that if you person migrant labor, you tin expect national agents to travel and hunt your property."

"I person not been progressive successful the president’s existent plan, I cannot reply that 1 mode oregon the other," Rollins said. 

Trump has promised to instrumentality an assertive attack to borderline information and amerciable immigration, and the Department of Homeland Security issued a announcement Tuesday to green-light expedited deportation of amerciable immigrants. 

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Brooke Rollins attends a Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee proceeding connected her information for Secretary of Agriculture, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, successful Washington. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

Other Democratic senators, including Peter Welch of Vermont and Adam Schiff of California, echoed akin sentiments regarding the implications of wide deportation connected farms. 

While the lawmakers acknowledged that those who airs a nationalist information menace shouldn’t stay successful the U.S., they besides said Americans are little inclined to enactment successful the harsh conditions that farming requires than amerciable immigrants. 

Schiff said estimates suggest fractional of California’s workplace workforce is undocumented, and asked Rollins however farmers were expected to past if fractional their workforce is cut, due to the fact that "Americans don’t privation to bash that work," since it's "too backbreaking." As a result, Schiff asked who would enactment connected California's farms. 

Rollins said she would enactment with the committee and with the Labor Department connected the matter.

"We volition enactment unneurotic to recognize and hopefully lick for immoderate of these problems. The dairy cattle person to beryllium milked, but if we’ve got a wide deportation programme underway, past there’s a batch of enactment that we request to do," Rollins said. 

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Brooke Rollins, U.S. President Trump's nominee to beryllium caput of agriculture, testifies earlier a Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee confirmation proceeding connected Capitol Hill successful Washington, Jan. 23, 2025.  (Kaylee Greenlee Beal/Reuters)

Lawmakers connected some sides of the aisle besides voiced concerns astir however farmers volition fare, should Trump travel done connected his plans to instrumentality tariffs. Trump’s economical program calls for imposing tariffs ranging from 10% to 20% connected each imported goods. 

When Trump’s archetypal medication imposed tariffs, China issued their ain retaliatory tariffs that outgo the national authorities billions of dollars successful authorities assistance to farmers.

"I’m trepidacious that this is going to travel backmost to our farmers," Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan said. 

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"My committedness is that determination volition beryllium nary sleeping, that we volition enactment astir the timepiece to guarantee that our AG communities crossed this state are represented successful those discussions and astatine the table," Rollins said. 

Rollins antecedently worked arsenic the manager of the Office of American Innovation and acting manager of the Domestic Policy Council during Trump’s archetypal term. After moving for the Trump administration, Rollins co-founded the America First Policy Institute deliberation tank. 

The caput of the Agriculture Department is liable for managing workplace and nutrition, forestry, nutrient safety, agrarian development, and cultivation research.