Over the past several weeks, President Donald Trump’s immigration policy has see-sawed between all-out enforcement crackdowns and deportation exemption carveouts for favored industries.
Neither approach is the answer to the immigration mess.
On June 12, the administration, after heavy lobbying by specific industries, notified regional government offices responsible for immigration enforcement of a new policy. “Effective today, please hold on all work site enforcement investigations/operations on agriculture (including aquaculture and meat packing plants), restaurants and operating hotels.â€
Four days later, under pressure from hardliners in his administration, the president abruptly reversed course, insisting on renewed, across-the-board immigration enforcement with no exceptions for any industry.
The influential agriculture industry continued to press for needed relief, resulting in the president proposing a new immigration policy reversal on June 20, but just for farmers.
“We’re looking at doing something where in the case of good, reputable farmers, they can take responsibility for the people that they hire, and let them have responsibility, because we can’t put the farms out of business, and at the same time, we don’t want to hurt people that aren’t criminals.â€
While no details have been given on what “responsibility†farms would have for their undocumented workers, it is not hard to see that this is not the immigration reform we need.
Farms should not be given such commanding power over their undocumented workers, who make up 40% of crop workers. These workers will know one thing: keep their employers happy or face deportation.
No worker should be controlled by the fear that their life could be dramatically upended by being deported and taken from their families. This is not the answer we need to protect the business community from losing the valuable labor provided by undocumented workers to our farms or any business.
Additionally, there should be no immigration carveouts for favored industries in immigration policy.
Immigration policy should be the same for farms, restaurants and hotels, just as it is for car washes, home builders, child and adult care providers, manufacturers, cleaning services, landscapers, and other similar industries.
Small businesses are already feeling the financial loss from immigration raids that arrest workers and intimidate non-targeted immigrant employees from returning to the job. These businesses are left with fewer workers to produce goods and services.
The federal government’s intentional immigration fear tactics have driven immigrant families, even with legal status, into hiding. These families are avoiding public places and cutting spending, which means local stores and restaurants lose customers and revenue.
It’s time for Congress to take the reins from the president and protect our small business economy from the immigration chaos being created by the administration.
Our lawmakers should establish a path for the undocumented, temporary legal status individuals, and other immigrant groups to earn a permanent legal status.
If Congress can’t achieve this best solution, then it should set up a fund to allow small businesses financially harmed by mass deportation efforts to apply for and receive fair compensation for their losses.
We did this for the farmers who lost money in the agriculture trade war with China during the first Trump administration and paid them $62 billion for their losses.
Today, the same consideration is due to our small businesses, which are already being financially harmed and will be in the future if Congress doesn’t act.
