The Western Growers Association says recent comments by Attorney General Jeff Sessions indicate the Justice Department will focus on deporting felons, not farm workers. Sessions recently told Fox News the Justice Department does not intend to target illegal immigrants who have not committed crimes beyond illegally entering the country. Western Growers Association CEO Tom Nassif called the comments encouraging. Nassif says: “The Attorney General’s comments confirm what we in the agriculture industry have understood to be the Administration’s interior enforcement policy: ICE activities will be directed toward deporting felons, not farmworkers.” He points out that much of our agricultural productivity is owed to the hard work of foreigners, in particular, the harvesting of our nutritious fruits and vegetables. With agricultural employers facing a chronic shortage of workers, Nassif says “we cannot afford to exacerbate this problem by threatening to deport our farmworkers, which the Administration clearly understands.”
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting news service.
