THE WHITE HOUSE — President Donald Trump promised “no amnesty” for illegal immigrant agricultural workers on Tuesday. Trump had caused concerns about the potential of an amnesty program when he told a group of Iowans on July 3 that farmers would be able to “vouch” for their illegal workers, allowing them to stay in the United States.

But at a Tuesday cabinet meeting, Trump doubled down on promising “no amnesty,” while also having Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Department of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer weigh in on how to maintain agricultural production and the hospitality industry without the illegal labor.

“There’s no amnesty. What we’re doing is we’re getting rid of criminals, but we are doing a work program,” Trump said in the meeting. “We’ve got to give the farmers the people they need, but we’re not talking amnesty.”

Trump’s comments followed remarks he made in the past couple of weeks that indicated he was concerned that the agricultural industry would be destroyed if it did not have access to illegal labor.

“Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace,” he posted to social media on June 12. “In many cases the Criminals allowed into our Country by the VERY Stupid Biden Open Borders Policy are applying for those jobs. This is not good. We must protect our Farmers, but get the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA. Changes are coming!”

On June 29, Trump said there would be a “temporary pass” for such workers, worrying many that such a pass would undermine the goal of mass deportations — a keystone promise made by Trump during his campaign and throughout his second term in office.

“When we go into a farm and we take away people that have been working there for 15 and 20 years, who were good, who possibly came in incorrectly, and what we’re going to do is we’re going to do something for farmers where we can let the farmer sort of be in charge,” he stated. “The farmer knows he’s not going to hire a murderer.”

According to the Department of Agriculture, from 2020 to 2022, 42 percent of crop farmworkers were in the country illegally and did not hold work authorization. Those people were located primarily in California, whereas the 32 percent who were U.S.-born workers were concentrated in the Midwest. Seven percent of crop farmworkers were immigrants who had obtained U.S. citizenship, and 19 percent were authorized immigrants, largely permanent residents and green card holders.

But on Tuesday, members of the Trump administration promised that, while the deportation focus for now remains on those who have committed other crimes on top of being in the country illegally, the ultimate goal is for a “100 percent American workforce,” as Rollins said at a press conference just before the cabinet meeting.

“There’s been a lot of noise in the last few days and a lot of questions about where the president stands and his vision for farm labor. The first thing I’ll say is, the president has been unequivocal that there will be no amnesty, and I think that’s very, very important. I and the rest of our cabinet certainly support that, effectuate that, and make sure that happens every single day,” Rollins stated.

She added, in reference to mass deportations, “The president and I have spoken about that once or twice, and he has always been of the mindset that at the end of the day, the promise to America to ensure that we have a 100 percent American workforce stands, but we must be strategic in how we are implementing the mass deportation so as not to compromise our food supply.”

Rollins and Chavez-DeRemer spoke about workforce innovation and automation as part of the solution for the industry. At the USDA press conference, Rollins also stated that there are “34 million able-bodied adults in our Medicaid program,” adding, “there are plenty of workers in America, but we just have to make sure we’re not compromising today, especially in the context of everything we’re thinking about right now. So no amnesty under any circumstances. Mass deportations continue, but in a strategic and intentional way, as we move our workforce toward more automation and toward a 100 percent American workforce.”

Rollins echoed her press conference remarks in the cabinet meeting, saying, “Obviously this president’s vision of no amnesty, mass deportation continues, but in a strategic way, and then ensuring that our farmers have the labor that they need.”

When asked about whether the mass deportation scheme would continue apace, or be phased to focus on violent criminals first and other illegals later (as Rollins’ comments suggest), White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told The Federalist, “President Trump remains committed to carrying out the largest mass deportation operation in history by removing dangerous, violent criminal illegal aliens from American communities and targeting the sanctuary cities that provide safe harbor to criminal illegals.”

Some farm owners and industry representatives have been pressuring the administration to stop the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actions to deport workers, claiming that up to 70 percent of workers stopped reporting to work.

Contrary to what Rollins said, Alexandra Sossa, CEO of Farmworker and Landscaper Advocacy Project, claimed to Newsweek that “we do not have enough workforce in the United States to do manual work, to do those jobs that other people are not qualified to do and do not want to do it.” She referenced both agriculture and the meatpacking industry.

But Chavez-DeRemer emphasized on Tuesday “how important this is never to displace the American worker,” adding that there is work to be done in “streamlining” the H programs — which include a variety of designations allowing foreign nationals to temporarily work in the United States. Common designations include H-1B for specialty occupations, H-2A for temporary agricultural workers, and H-2B for temporary non-agricultural workers.

“We’re going to have a concierge approach to that, where we have, you know, developed a new office to answer the need of our farmers and ranchers and producers, and not to displace the American worker and fall within the law now, and that does not include an amnesty program at all,” the labor secretary said.