A big victory for President-elect Donald Trump comes with some big promises.
Throughout his campaign, Trump has promised a major crackdown on undocumented immigrants.
"On day one, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history," said Trump.
The latest numbers from the federal government show nearly 11 million undocumented immigrants live in the U.S.
Trump’s initiative is aimed at deporting them, although it’s unclear what that looks like.
Some people tell me the deportations are necessary, while others say it will bite the hand that feeds us.
"What are some of the concerns you’ve been hearing?" said WPTV's Joel Lopez.
"Knowing whether or not they’ll be able to stay here, knowing whether or not their friends, their families, their spouse, their uncles, their grandkids are going to be deported?” said Ernesto Ruiz.
He's the research coordinator with the Farmworker Association of Florida, and said the move could be a huge blow to the state’s agriculture industry, after already losing thousands of workers last year from Gov. Ron DeSantis’ crackdown on undocumented workers.
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"The farmers I was with yesterday are complaining about how difficult it is to get people to work and the H-2A program is expensive for them, they have to house them, they have to feed them, they have to transport them, they have to pay a lot of fees in order to even become certified," said Ruiz.
In a 2020 survey, the National Agricultural Workers organization found the U.S. had about 2.4 million farmworkers, and 44% were undocumented.
“We are concerned," said Ruiz. "It’s foolish, we have people here who want to work and we’re making it harder for them."
Exit polls show that roughly 45% of Latinos voted for Trump. One of them was Lydia Maldonado.
"Is there concern that we’re going to lose farmworkers? Is that just the collateral damage we’re going to have to face?" asked Lopez.
“It’s not like they’re going to be knocking on doors and getting everybody out of their homes, no, they’re going after those criminals," said Maldonado.
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She's with the Republican Party of Palm Beach County and said her concern is the undocumented immigrants causing crime, which she said are painting all immigrants in a bad light.
"If you're doing good, keep doing good. But if you're doing evil, you know there's a price to pay, and sooner or later they're going to catch you," said Maldonado. "We really need to reform and figure out what we’re going to do with this immigration."
DEPORTATION NUMBERS BY REUTERS:
Obama's first term: 2.9 million
Obama's second term: 1.9 million
Trump's term: 1.5 million
Biden's term: 1.1 million
Trump and Biden both faced COVID setbacks.
