If you’re confused about the Trump Administration’s mass deportation policy, join the club. First it was the full Stephen Miller, deporting every illegal in the land. Then there was going to be a reprieve for the agriculture and hospitality industries, then it was back to the full Miller. On Sunday the President said he now wants a “temporary pass” for some businesses.
“I don’t back away,” Mr. Trump said on Fox News Sunday Morning Futures.
“What I do have, I cherish our farmers. And 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. The farmer knows he’s not going to hire a murderer.”
He’s right about that. Employers need good workers, and it’s crazy policy for the U.S. government to raid businesses in order to drag away someone who arrived here illegally but has been a reliable employee for years.
“But you know, when you go into a farm and you set somebody working with them for nine years doing this kind of work, which is hard work to do and a lot of people aren’t going to do it, and you end up destroying a farmer because you took all the people away — it’s a problem,” Mr. Trump added.
“You know, 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, a certain group of people work.”
Mr. Trump says the White House is working on “some kind of a temporary pass, where people pay taxes, where the farmer can have a little control as opposed to you walk in and take everybody away.”
Glad to hear it, though we’d add that these employers and workers already pay Social Security and other taxes. The details will matter. But the President’s instinct is right on moral and economic grounds.
Mr. Miller’s mass deportation is building resentment as the raids proliferate. They will hurt small businesses already struggling to find workers. Focus on the criminals, and leave everyone else alone to provide for their families.
