Secretary Rollins: No Amnesty for Farm Workers as Deportation Raids Continue

Farm and ranch owners are watching raids continue, listening to what the president is saying, and following what the country’s secretary of agriculture is doing to figure out what could be ahead for some of their workforce.

Federal agents stormed a cannabis farm in Ventura County, California, on Thursday. They fired tear gas and rubber bullets, according to witnesses, as they rounded up some of the people they encountered. Nearly 500 protesters had been onsite in anticipation of potential raids in the area, which added to the tension.  

“The government is aware of cartels, illicit crime, the whole thing and yet, and yet, they decide to spend their resources going after a total legal company that pays the state of California hundreds of millions of dollars excise tax,” Marc Cohodes, one of the investors in the farm, told the Los Angeles Times. 

Oxnard Mayor Luis McArthur addressed the methods used by federal agents. “It is becoming increasingly apparent that the actions taken by ICE are bold and aggressive, demonstrating insensitivity towards the direct impact on our community,” McArthur told the Los Angeles Times. “These actions are causing unnecessary distress and harm. I remain committed to working alongside our Attorney General and the Governor’s office to explore potential legal avenues to address these activities.”

RELATED: This is why a Midwest farmer does not see agricultural producers in other countries as threats.

President Trump: Farmers could ‘vouge’ for undocumented workers

One week before the California raid, President Donald Trump addressed his administration’s priorities.

"We’re finding the criminals, the murderers, the drug dealers, we’re getting them the hell out of here,” told a crowd at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines.

About half of the suspected undocumented people detained by federal agents do not have prior convictions or criminal charges, according to an analysis by NBC News.  

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem also attended the event with Trump. Trump acknowledged the undocumented workers’ current roles in the country’s agricultural operations. He suggested that those workers would not necessarily be removed as he looked toward Noem seated nearby.

"If a farmer’s 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?" he said. "You know, we’re going to be good with it. Because we don’t want to do it where we take all of the workers off the farms. We want the farms to do great like they’re doing right now."

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Said ‘No Amnesty’ for Undocumented Farm Workers

Perhaps, the Trump administration could look to avoid mass raids on agricultural operations and expedite a process for visas for foreign-born workers?

On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said on Fox Business, “Listen, this president has been resolute on no amnesty, mass deportation. But there are programs currently within the government under Lori Chavez de Rimmer, our secretary, our great secretary of labor, the H2A visa program.”

Rollins added, “This president, his heart is with the farmers. It always has been. And we will work nonstop until we find the right solution, but it does not include amnesty and certainly moving toward the American workforce that he envisions.”

She also suggested that Americans receiving Medicaid health insurance coverage could replace undocumented farm workers. 

RELATED: This Midwest business leader wants a federal focus on streamlining and improving the immigration system.