Trump Dodges Farmer’s Question on Mass Deportation, Claims “Mental Institutions” Are Sending Immigrants to U.S.
REUTERS/Alyssa Pointer
During a town hall on Wednesday, former President Donald Trump gave a rambling response when asked by a migrant farmer who would perform essential agricultural jobs if he followed through on his threats of mass deportation. The exchange occurred at a Univision-hosted event, where Trump repeated his campaign rhetoric, claiming that African American and Hispanic populations are losing jobs due to an influx of illegal immigrants from mental institutions, asylums, and jails.
Jorge Velazquez, a 64-year-old farmer born in Mexico and now residing in Santa Maria, California, posed the question to Trump: “If you deport these people, who would do that job, and what price would we pay for food?” His question, translated from Spanish, referred to the vital labor provided by migrant workers in agriculture, as [er reports Raw Story.
In his nearly four-minute response, Trump largely avoided the specifics of Velazquez’s question. Instead, he reiterated his familiar talking points, claiming, “The African American population and the Hispanic population, in particular, are losing jobs now because millions of people are coming in.” Trump went on to make unsubstantiated claims that large numbers of immigrants entering the U.S. were coming from “mental institutions,” “insane asylums,” and jails.
Trump took the claim further, stating that the jail population worldwide had significantly decreased because inmates were being sent to the U.S. “The jail population throughout the world has come way down, and it’s all coming into the United States of America,” he declared.
While acknowledging the need for workers, Trump emphasized that they should enter the country legally and “love our country, love you, love our people.”
As he continued, Trump criticized the Biden administration, saying it had “totally lost control” of immigration, describing President Biden and Vice President Harris as the worst leaders the country had ever seen. He lamented the state of the agricultural sector, saying, “Our farmers are dying…four years ago our farmers, including you, were doing great.”
Trump wrapped up his response by reiterating his stance that immigration should be selective: “We want people to come in, but we don’t want murders. We have to have people that are great people come into our country.”
The interaction left some viewers questioning Trump’s ability to address the complexities of immigration reform and labor in agriculture, as he largely sidestepped the direct concerns raised by Velazquez.
