Trump floats plan to allow farmers to vouch for migrant workers facing deportation

The president made the remarks during a patriotic rally at the Iowa State Fairgrounds to kick off Independence Day celebrations. He said that farmers would be responsible for vouching for their workforce under the proposed plan, in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

"You know, they've had people working for them for years. And we're going to do something," said President Trump. "We're going to sort of put the farmers in charge. 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, I think we're going to have to just say that's going to be good, right?"

"We don't want to do [border security] where we take all of the workers off the farms," Trump added. "We want the farms to do great."

Trump hinted at the new immigration exceptions for farmers earlier this week, suggesting that the measure may extend to migrants working in the hospitality sector.

While making the comments, Trump said he has heard of instances where migrants have gotten "thrown out pretty viciously" after having worked on farms for 15 years.

"We can't do that," Trump said. "We've got to work with the farmers and people that have hotels and leisure properties."

The 47th president's announcement has been met with some criticism by the "MAGA" base, with individuals who voted for mass deportation operations expressing disappointment.

President Trump noted that farmers would take responsibility for any problems that arise with their migrant workforce, sarcastically saying, "If the farmers don't do a good job, we'll throw them the hell out of the country. We'll let the guys - we'll let the illegals stay, and we'll throw the farmers the hell out. Okay, get ready, farmer, I'm telling you."