Iowa needs farmworkers

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Will Donald Trump pull back his mass deportation drive to spare Iowa farmers and agribusinesses who need migrants to fill jobs?

The answer is nobody knows.

At the Iowa State Fair on July 3, Trump said he was crafting a policy allowing undocumented farmworkers to remain on the job with the support of employers.

“If a farmer is willing to vouch for these people in some way, Kristi, I think we’re going to have to just say that’s going to be good, right?” Trump said, referring to Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem.

Later, Trump said, “We don’t want to do it where we take all of the workers off the farms.”

Not so fast, Mr. President.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told reporters in July that there would be “no amnesty” for farmworkers. She wants a 100% American workforce.

“Ultimately, the answer on this is automation, also some reform within the current governing structure,” Rollins said. “And then also, when you think about it, there are 34 million able-bodied adults in our Medicaid program. There are plenty of workers in America.”

So, the Trump administration is looking to Medicaid recipients to process meat, pick fruits and vegetables, staff dairy farms, egg laying operations and hog confinements, and perform manual labor for various types of agricultural operations. It would be hilarious if it weren’t so serious.

Roughly 40% of farmworkers in the U.S. are undocumented. Many who are working here legally will have their permission revoked and be deported.

According to the Economic Policy Institute, Trump’s deportations will take 22,000 migrants out of the workforce. Approximately 10,000 losses are expected in manufacturing. The child care sector could lose 15.1% of its workforce nationwide.

“Secretary Rollins has done a great job of just pointing out the need in agriculture for this outside labor — a lot of them being there year after year after year,” Gov. Kim Reynolds said July 8, likely unaware of Rollins’ “no amnesty” remarks on the same day.

“And it’s how we make things work. So, it’s essential to the industry that we’re able to maintain that,” said Reynolds, who demonizes immigrants for political gain but also knows migrants are needed on the farm.

It’s important.

Iowa has a severe workforce shortage. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Iowa has 90 workers for every 100 open jobs. Iowa Workforce Development reports that there are 50,000 open positions in Iowa. Removing tens of thousands of migrants from the workforce will only exacerbate the problem.

Losing even more child care workers will exacerbate Iowa’s shortage of affordable child care, which could also cause some mothers to leave the workforce. Immigrants also fill many jobs in the health care sector, which already faces a labor shortage.

Clearly, deportations will be an economic disaster in Iowa. Our Republican leaders must do more than flatter Trump and his cabinet members, hoping they’ll have second thoughts. This is too important to play political games.

Former Gov. Tom Vilsack, also this month, pointed to a bill that passed the House on a bipartisan vote in 2021, allowing undocumented immigrants working in agriculture to receive Certified Agricultural Worker Status and, eventually, Lawful Permanent Resident status. It would also have created a temporary farmworker program.

We need ideas like these now. Instead of just handing ICE a massive pile of money to pursue deportations, Congress could have also debated thoughtful changes to our immigration system, with agriculture in mind.

Instead, our leaders have given us more reckless rhetoric slamming migrants. They know the cost of deportation, and yet, they can’t break away from Trump’s immigration offensive: same song, different verse. Iowans deserve better.


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