Demonstrators ask Trump’s USDA to pick who will do ‘hard labor’ farming amid mass deportations
Democratic lawmakers worry that American farms will suffer under the president Donald Trump mass deportation initiative.
About 40% of farmworkers are not authorized to work in the U.S., according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s National Farmworker Survey, and Democratic lawmakers are curious to see who will step up to work in the heat or cold.
As a result, senators questioned Trump’s pick of Brooke Rollins to head the Department of Agriculture over whether mass deportations under the Trump administration would undermine the agricultural workforce.
“Can we expect this administration to attack farms and go after immigrant farmers?” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said during Rollins’ confirmation hearing before the Senate Agriculture, Food and Forestry Committee on Thursday.
Committee Chairman Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., speaks during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
“Look, the president’s vision of a secure border and mass deportation on a scale that matters is something I support,” Rollins said.
Rollins then pledged to help Trump implement his plan, while also “standing up for” America’s farmers and ranchers.
“But when you’re talking about mass deportation, we’ve gone beyond dangerous criminals,” Durbin said. “I’m just wondering if we should give fair warning to farmers and ranchers across America that if you have an immigrant workforce, you can expect federal agents to come and search your property.”
“I wasn’t involved in the president’s current plan, I can’t answer that one way or the other,” Rollins said.
Trump has vowed to take an aggressive approach to border security and illegal immigration, and the Department of Homeland Security issued a green-light notice on Tuesday accelerated deportation of illegal immigrants.
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Brooke Rollins attends a Senate Agriculture, Food and Forestry Committee hearing on her nomination to be secretary of agriculture, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in Washington. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)
Other Democratic senators, including Peter Welch of Vermont and Adam Schiff of California, echoed similar sentiments about the implications of mass deportation on farms.
While the lawmakers acknowledged that those who pose a threat to public safety should not remain in the US, they also said that Americans are less inclined to work in the harsh conditions required by agriculture than illegal immigrants.
Schiff said estimates show half of California’s farm workforce is undocumented and asked Rollins how farmers are supposed to survive if half their workforce is cut, because “Americans don’t want to do that work,” because it’s “too hard.” As a result, Schiff asked who would work on the California farms.
Rollins said she will work with the board and the Department of Labor on the matter.
“We’re going to work together to understand and hopefully resolve some of these issues. The milch needs to be milked, but if we have a mass deportation program going on, then we have a lot of work to do,” Rollins said.
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Brooke Rollins, U.S. President Trump’s nominee for secretary of agriculture, testifies before a Senate Agriculture, Food and Forestry Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 23, 2025. (Kaylee Greenlee Beal/Reuters)
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have also expressed concern about how farmers will fare if Trump goes ahead with his plans to impose tariffs. Trump’s economic plan calls for tariffs ranging from 10% to 20% on all imported goods.
When the first Trump administration imposed tariffs, China issued its own retaliatory tariffs that cost the federal government billions of dollars in government aid to farmers.
“I fear that this will come back to our farmers,” said Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan.
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“My commitment is that there will be no sleep, that we will work around the clock to ensure that our ag communities across this country are represented in those discussions and at the table,” Rollins said.
Rollins previously served as director of the Office of American Innovation and acting director of the Domestic Policy Council during Trump’s first term. After working for the Trump administration, Rollins co-founded the America First Policy Institute think tank.
The Secretary of the Department of Agriculture is responsible for farm management and nutrition, forestry, food security, rural development and agricultural research.
