Well, folks, the gloves are off, and the battle lines are drawn. President Donald Trump’s mass deportation initiative is already shaking up Washington, and this time, it’s the farming industry that’s at the center of the storm. During Thursday’s confirmation hearing for Brooke Rollins, Trump’s pick to head the Department of Agriculture, Democrats made it clear they’re deeply worried about the impact of aggressive immigration enforcement on America’s farms. The stakes? Millions of jobs, billions of dollars, and the backbone of the country’s agricultural sector.
Let’s talk numbers. According to the Department of Labor’s National Agricultural Workers Survey, an estimated 40% of crop farmworkers are not authorized to work in the U.S. In some states, like California, that number soars even higher. Senator Adam Schiff laid it out bluntly: “Half of California’s farm workforce is undocumented.” With Trump doubling down on mass deportations and expedited removal orders, Democrats are asking the question that’s on everyone’s mind: Who’s going to do the hard, backbreaking work of American farming if half the workforce is shown the door?
Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois didn’t mince words when he grilled Rollins. “Can we expect this administration to be raiding farms, going after the immigrant farmers?” he asked. Rollins, a staunch Trump loyalist, affirmed her support for Trump’s vision of secure borders and large-scale deportations but promised to balance that with “defending” American farmers. What does that mean in practice? Well, that’s still murky. When pressed about specific plans to mitigate the impact on farms, Rollins hedged, saying, “I have not been involved in the president’s current plan, I cannot answer that one way or the other.”
And here lies the rub: The administration’s immigration crackdown is already raising alarms among farmers, ranchers, and agricultural communities nationwide. Farming isn’t just a job—it’s grueling, physical labor under extreme conditions, and it’s work that many Americans simply aren’t lining up to do. As Schiff pointed out, “Americans don’t want to do that work since it’s too backbreaking.” Without immigrant labor, many farms—particularly in labor-intensive sectors like dairy, produce, and fruit harvesting—could face collapse.
Even Rollins seemed to acknowledge the challenge, saying, “The dairy cattle have to be milked, but if we’ve got a mass deportation program underway, then there’s a lot of work that we need to do.” She vowed to work with Congress and the Labor Department to find solutions, but that promise didn’t exactly inspire confidence among Democrats.
And it’s not just immigration that has farmers nervous. Trump’s economic playbook also calls for imposing hefty tariffs on imported goods, a move that could reignite trade wars with major partners like China. Farmers remember the fallout from Trump’s first-term tariffs all too well. When Beijing retaliated with tariffs of its own, American agriculture got hammered, forcing the federal government to spend billions in aid to keep farmers afloat. Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan put it bluntly: “I’m trepidacious that this is going to come back to our farmers.”
Here’s the bigger picture: Trump’s immigration policies and economic agenda are part of his broader “America First” vision, which prioritizes border security, domestic production, and reducing dependence on foreign labor. But the reality is that American farms have relied on immigrant labor—both documented and undocumented—for decades. Stripping that workforce away without a plan to replace it could leave the agricultural sector, already grappling with razor-thin profit margins, in dire straits.
And let’s not forget: farming isn’t just about food. Agriculture is a cornerstone of the U.S. economy, supporting rural communities and driving exports. A labor shortage or economic hit to farms could ripple far beyond the fields, impacting everything from grocery prices to rural economies.
Rollins, who served as a key Trump advisor during his first term and co-founded the America First Policy Institute, clearly has her work cut out for her. She’s walking a tightrope, balancing Trump’s hardline immigration agenda with the practical needs of farmers who keep America fed. For now, Rollins is making all the right promises: “There will be no sleeping… We will work around the clock to ensure that our AG communities across this country are represented at the table.”
