CHICAGO, July 2, 2025 —The White House is developing a way to keep the administration’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants from hampering the nation’s food production, President Donald Trump revealed over the weekend.
During a TV appearance, the chief executive said he’s heard U.S. farmers’ warnings that crops won’t be harvested if foreign-born workers are unavailable to do the picking. He was referring to reports that agriculture’s workforce has been severely depleted by the detention of immigrants lacking permission to work and the fears of others that they’ll be nabbed if they show up for a job.
Trump said his administration is working on a permit system that would grant immigrants a temporary pass to work the fields. He provided few details, but did comment that farmers might be the ones to decide which workers would qualify for the passes.
"We can let the farmer sort of be in charge,” said Trump. “The farmer knows he’s not going to hire a murderer.”
The president indicated that the same system could extend to the hospitality business and hotels in particular.
Trump made a rare acknowledgment during his appearance on Fox News' “Sunday Morning Futures” that he’s bothered by some of the fallout from his campaign promise to undertake the largest deportation of illegal immigrants in U.S. history.
“You know, I’m on both sides of the thing,” the president told show host Maria Bartiromo. “I’m the strongest immigration guy that there’s ever been, but I’m also the strongest farmer guy that there’s ever been.”
Weeks earlier, Trump had indicated in a post on the Truth Social social media platform that he was instructing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities to ease off the roundup and deportation of restaurant, food-processing and farm employees who lack permission to work in the U.S. The workers were too difficult for employers in those realms to replace, Trump acknowledged.
Immediately afterward, The Washington Post reported that the directive had already been rescinded, but the reversal was never confirmed by immigration authorities.
Trump’s disclosure of a temporary work permit came less than two weeks before the president is scheduled to raise the tariffs on agricultural imports from many nations, a move he predicts will prompt more domestic production.
As Managing Editor for IFMA The Food Away from Home Association, Romeo is responsible for generating the group's news and feature content. He brings more than 40 years of experience in covering restaurants to the position.
Cover image courtesy: Closed Loop Project