'We're not talking amnesty': Trump touts work program to provide labor for farmers

3 hours ago 6

President Donald Trump denied that his administration was exploring an amnesty program for illegal aliens after reports of a whisper campaign advocating the controversial policy emerged.

The president made the comments during a media briefing with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins when asked about the possibility of an amnesty program.

'We got to work with the farmers and people that have hotels and leisure properties too. We're going to work with them, and we're going to work very strong and smart.'

"There's no amnesty," said the president. "What we're doing is we're getting rid of criminals, but we are doing a work program."

"This morning we talked about protecting the farmers and the farmland, but obviously this president's vision of no amnesty, mass deportation continues," Rollins explained, "but in a strategic way, and then ensuring that our farmers have the labor that they need."

"[Labor] Sec. Chavez-DeRemer has been a leader on this. Obviously this comes out of the Labor Department, but moving toward automation, ensuring that our farmers have that workforce, and moving toward an American workforce. So all of the above," she added.

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"We've got to give the farmers the people they need, but we're not talking amnesty," the president added.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt reiterated the message on social media.

"As President Trump just said: No Amnesty," she wrote.

Opponents of amnesty have become concerned after Trump mentioned that he has heard from farmers and hotel owners that they are struggling to run their businesses because of deportations. He has suggested that the administration might make concessions to allow workers to remain in those industries.

"Farmers, look, they know better. They work with them for years. You had cases that where — not here, but just even over the years — where people have worked on a farm for 14, 15 years, and they get thrown out pretty viciously. And we can't do it," said the president on Thursday during a rally in Iowa.

"We got to work with the farmers and people that have hotels and leisure properties too," he added. "We're going to work with them, and we're going to work very strong and smart."

The president also appeared to anticipate some anger from his supporters over the policy.

“Serious radical-right people, who I also happen to like a lot, they may not be quite as happy," he said. "But they’ll understand.”

'We must deliver mass deportations, not amnesty.'

On Monday, various MAGA figures registered their disdain for any amnesty plan that might be considered.

"No amnesty. No debate. No compromise," replied Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

"There is no other issue the conservative base feels more passionately about than immigration," responded Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA. "In just a few decades, everyday Americans have watched their country transform into a nation of strangers. We must deliver mass deportations, not amnesty."

"Any sort of mass amnesty plan would result in a devastating midterm defeat for Republicans in Congress," Todd Starnes said.

Former President Joe Biden had made immigration amnesty one of the promises of his presidential campaign, but he was never able to pass any bill through Congress.

Trump's mass deportation plans will likely escalate after the passage of his "big, beautiful bill" of federal funding that includes more than $26 billion in new spending for immigration enforcement.

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