Trump’s Racism Harms The Economy As Kansas Farmers Say They Need More Undocumented Workers

Since Trump signed his anti-immigrant executive order, arrests went up 38% and fewer people are trying to enter the U.S. illegally.

Part of the problem is the broad language in Trump’s mass deportation EO because anyone who evaded a border inspection or overstayed a visea could be charged with a misdemeanor or fraud and facc the threat of deportation.

Agriculture is starting to feel the pinch. The fact is undocumented immigrants make up 50% of agriculture’s labor force. But with Trump’s anti-immigrant policies, the labor pool is shrinking enough to worry farmers in Trump friendly Kansas.

Trisha Priest told Bloomberg: “The threat of deportation and the potential loss of our workforce has been very terrifying for all of us businesses here,” Priest in the chief strategy officer at Cattle Empire the country’s fifth-largest feed yard, Eighty-six percent of Cattle Empire’s work force is Latino.

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While Trump says he wants a “merit based” immigration system, where people with higher education and better work histories are welcomed, that’s not going to address labor shortages in agriculture, construction or in the hospitality industry all of which rely heavily on the undocumented immigrant labor force.

People in the agriculture, construction and hospitality industries whose workforces are largely undocumented immigrants do want criminals deported. However, they also want Trump to make working here easier for the undocumented labor force they rely on. They describe the visa system as “too slow and expensive”.

The American Farm Bureau Federation proposes giving people who have worked in the industry for a set period of time permanent legal status. They are aware of a fact Trump just doesn’t want to face. As stated on the ABFB website: “Where American workers are unwilling or unavailable, workers from other countries have stepped in.”

It’s doubtful Trump will heed their concerns, given that he is unaware that the law he promised that would ban immigrants from getting welfare for “at least five years” is already on the books.

According to the National Immigration Law Center, a law banning immigrants from welfare and other benefits was passed in 1996.

Maybe, farmers, restauranteurs and employers in the construction industry should wrap their concerns in a slice of chocolate cake.

Adalia Woodbury

Former contributor.