 "US President Donald Trump gestures as he boards Air Force One en route to Florida at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas on January 25, 2025. AP")
After Attorney General Pam Bondi, the far-right Maga movement has found its new target in Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollings over the Donald Trump administration’s policy on illegal immigrants working in farms.
Trump has said that illegal immigrants working in farms and hotels will not be part of the ongoing mass deportation. He has said that the administration will come up with a way to keep them in the country to sustain the agriculture sector.
Trump’s Maga base is furious as it sees the decision as a betrayal of the pledge to remove all illegal immigrants from the country.
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On the other hand, farmers have demanded such a step as agriculture sector and associated industries, such as meat processing plants and packaging centres, depend heavily on these worker s. There are already signs that Trump’s crackdown has led to a crisis in the farming sector.
The raids by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have wrought havoc on the agriculture sector and as many as 70 per cent of farm workers in some parts of the country have stopped showing to work, according to The Daily Telegraph.
As a result, crops have started to rot in fields and labour shortages are being reported in meat-packing facilities, directing affecting food production.
Trump seeks middle ground but Maga erupts in outrage
In an interview with Fox News, Trump outlined the uncomfortable situation that he faced where he had to balance immigration agenda with farming needs.
“I’m on both sides of the thing. I’m the strongest immigration guy that there’s ever been, but I’m also the strongest farmer guy that there’s ever been. And that includes also hotels and, you know, places where people work,” said Trump.
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More ShortsAs a result, Trump has announced a programme under which farmers will vouch for illegal immigrants working for them and they will then be allowed to work for them after the required declaration. Trump, however, said that there would not be any amnesty or pathway to citizenship.
Trump dubbed this a new “work programme” and said “we’re going to sort of put the farmers in charge” as they have worked with these people for years.
“If a farmer has been with one of these people that worked so hard — they bend over all day, we don’t have too many people that can do that, but they work very hard, and they know him very well, and some of the farmers are literally, you know, they cry when they see this happen. 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?” said Trump on Thursday.
Maga slams Trump’s farm workers agenda
Slamming the Trump’s administration’s stand on illegal farm workers, far-right activist Chrlie Kirk said that elites like Agriculture Secretary Rollins were giving Trump advice that could break the Maga coalition apart.
“If you want to break our coalition, go and push amnesty,” said Kirk.
Separately, far-right commentator Laura Loomer, who has often lashed out at those she sees as diluting the Maga agenda, accused Rollins of undermining Trump’s America First agenda by “trying to get amnesty for illegal alien farm workers”.
Social media platforms like X were also full of posts in which far-right supporters of Trump slammed the administration’s stand and dubbed it as betrayal.