President Donald Trump’s recent orders addressing border security could be a step toward Congress’ consideration of immigration reform, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.
“The president’s executive action directly focusing on border security is hopefully a positive step to secure the order, and I also hope that it will free up the logjam in Congress of border security first,” Kristi Boswell, AFBF director of Congressional Relations, said in a recent Newsline report. “Hopefully, the president taking this action allows members of Congress to feel some comfort that those steps are being taken and then they can focus on passing immigration reform that takes legislative action to achieve.”
Boswell said enforcement of immigration policies could affect agricultural workers.
“We want to make sure our workforce is legal and valid to work in the United States,” Boswell said. “However, the reality is over half of our workforce is undocumented, and so we want to make sure there is thoughtfulness by the administration in their approach recognizing the nature of our workforce.”
Moving forward, Boswell believes agriculture needs immigration policy reform.
“We are hopeful that these actions will open the door to a lot more discussions allowing the president to take care of the enforcement side, especially on border security, and allowing Congress to draft legislation that creates a flexible visa program for agriculture that works for not only seasonable but year-round needs,” Boswell said.
Boswell said it’s important that future immigration policy recognizes the current workforce and provides an adjustment of status so workers can obtain legal status and work in the U.S. legally.