America's farmers overwhelmingly voted for President Donald Trump who, today, will address their annual convention at a time when immigration reform is a hot button issue, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
"We're all hoping that immigration reform can get done with a workable guest worker program," Russell Boening, head of the Texas Farm Bureau, tells Newsradio 1200 WOAI.
He says every aspect of the agriculture industry, from farmers to ranchers, are experiencing workforce struggles, thanks to a crackdown on illegal immigration. Those migrants were the ones that were often hired to work the fields, which Americans won’t do.Roughly 1.4 million undocumented immigrants work on U.S. farms each year. That's about 60 percent of the labor force on farms.
A guest worker program is seen by farmers as a way to balance security with workforce needs.
"I guess it sounds kind of simplistic. They're coming over here legally, so you don’t have to worry," he explains. "And if anyone else is coming illegally, they're probably not coming to work. They're probably coming to do something else."
On the campaign trail, Trump spoke highly of farmers, and vowed to fight for them. Last August, speaking in Iowa, the then-nominee promised to cut taxes on family farms, which he called the “backbone” of the country.
"Hillary Clinton wants to shut down family farms just like she wants to shut down the mines and the steelworkers," he said at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. "She will do this not only through radical regulation, but also by raising taxes on family farms and all businesses to rates as high as nearly 50 percent."