Trump Signals Deference to Farmers on Undocumented Workers

President Trump late Thursday signaled deference to farmers in the U.S. who employ undocumented migrants, aiming to shield some of them from his administration’s deportation efforts.

“Farmers, look, they know better. They work with them for years. You had cases where, not year, but just even over the years where people have worked for a farm, on a farm for 14, 15 years and they get thrown out pretty viciously and we can’t do it. We gotta work with the farmers, and people that have hotels and leisure properties too,” Trump told the crowd at the “Salute to America” event in Des Moines, Iowa.

The president indicated during his speech, which formally kicked off the year-long celebration of the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding, that his administration is working on legislation that would permit some migrants without authorization to stay in the country and keep working on farms.

“We’re gonna work with them and we’re gonna work very strong and smart, and we’re gonna put you in charge. We’re gonna make you responsible and I think that that’s going to make a lot of people happy,” Trump said, acknowledging that “serious radical right people, who I also happen to like a lot, they may not be quite as happy but they’ll understand.”

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