Trump signs two executive orders restricting immigration
“I think on the ground there's a lot of anxiety,” said Kristi Boswell, a director for congressional relations with the American Farm Bureau Federation.
That's because much of the labor force that picks the fruits, vegetables and other crops in the U.S. are undocumented and in danger of being deported. Farm groups have lobbied Congress for years to reform U.S. immigration policy by creating new legal paths for farmers to hire foreigners, but it hasn't happened yet.
“The Farm Bureau supports border security, and I hope that this can be a step toward moving the entire debate forward,” Boswell said in an interview.
But farming or the need for an agricultural workforce wasn't mentioned by Trump when he signed the orders during a trip to the Department of Homeland Security in Washington. He highlighted the need to dismantle the drug cartels and keep illegal weapons and cash from flowing out of the country during a speech after the signing.
The primary legal way for farmers to employ non-U.S. citizens is The H-2A guest-worker visa program. But farmers complain about its slowness and its inability to meet the needs of the agriculture sector.
source: agri-pulse.com
