US farm industry groups want president-elect Donald Trump to spare their sector from his promise of mass deportations, which could upend a food supply chain heavily dependent on immigrants in the United States illegally.
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So far, Trump officials have not committed to any exemptions, according to interviews with farm and worker groups and Trump’s incoming “border tsar” Tom Homan.
Nearly half of the nation’s around 2 million farmworkers lack legal status, according to the departments of Labour and Agriculture, as well as many dairy and meatpacking workers.
Trump, a Republican, vowed to deport millions of immigrants in the US illegally as part of his campaign to win back the White House, a logistically challenging undertaking that critics say could split apart families and disrupt US businesses.
Homan has said immigration enforcement will focus on criminals and people with final deportation orders, but that no immigrant in the US illegally will be exempt.
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He told Fox News on November 11 that enforcement against businesses would “have to happen” but has not said whether the agricultural sector would be targeted.