Trump vows 'no amnesty,' signaling escalation of mass deportations

Daily Mail​

09-07-2025

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday there would be no amnesty for illegal immigrants working on farms and in the service industries. His clarification comes weeks after he floated providing assurances for certain migrant workers to help the American farming industry.
'There's no amnesty,' Trump said. 'What we're doing is we're getting rid of criminals, but we are doing a work program.' Agriculture businesses have warned the White House of potential impacts they could face should they lose migrant workers, prompting Trump to reconsider deporting them. But on Tuesday administration officials were firmly against giving immigrant workers any leeway.
'There will be no amnesty, the mass deportations continue but in a strategic way,' Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said at a press conference Tuesday. 'Ultimately, the answer on this is automation, also some reform within the current governing structure.' Rollins then suggested those receiving Medicaid might want to take advantage of the openings left by migrants. 'And then also, when you think about, there are 34 million able-bodied adults in our Medicaid program,' she said. 'There are plenty of workers in America.'
The last major mass amnesty in the United States occurred in 1986 when President Ronald Reagan signed the Immigration Reform and Control Act into law, granting legal status to approximately 2.7 million undocumented immigrants. MAGA-aligned supporters of the president were quick to question his initial suggestion of an amnesty policy, fretting that an influx of new citizens would push large states like California into reliably Democratic turf. However, Trump's reversal was celebrated on the right. 'I am a hard no on any amnesty,' Florida Republican Rep. Randy Fine wrote on Tuesday. 'Deport them all.'
Conservative pundit Charlie Kirk wrote: 'Yesterday, the internal D.C. Amnesty push got smoked out. Already, everybody is saying that amnesty is dead, a total nonstarter, won't happen. That's good.' The announcement comes as the White House's deportation push continues full steam ahead trying to remove the over 10 million migrants estimated to have illegally entered the country under President Joe Biden. Last month, Trump floated the idea of special treatment for migrant service workers during an interview with Fox News' Maria Bartiromo. 'I'm the strongest immigration guy that there's ever been, but I'm also the strongest farmer guy that there's ever been, and that includes also hotels and, you know, places where people work, a certain group of people work,' the president said at the time. 'We're working on it right now. We're going to work it so that, some kind of a temporary pass, where people pay taxes, where the farmer can have a little control as opposed to you walk in and take everybody away.'
He also raised the possibility via Truth Social, writing: 'Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace. We must protect our Farmers, but get the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA. Changes are coming.' He further elaborated on these sentiments in a press conference later that same day. 'Our farmers are being hurt badly by, you know, they have very good workers, they have worked for them for 20 years,' he said. 'They're not citizens, but they've turned out to be, you know, great. And we're going to have to do something about that. We can't take farmers and take all their people and send them back because they don't have maybe what they're supposed to have, maybe not.'
At the time, Trump vowed there would be 'an order' coming soon. The Department of Homeland Security told the Washington Post the administration has carried out 239,000 deportations since inauguration. On Monday, Trump ramped up his deportation efforts as heavily-armed ICE agents stormed a popular park in downtown Los Angeles searching for illegal immigrants.
Mayor Karen Bass (pictured) blasted the administration's 'military operation' and described the show of force as a 'political stunt' meant to 'terrorize immigrants.' Immigration agents were seen roaming through MacArthur Park and driving through the streets in armored tanks while some were patrolling on horseback. 'This morning, I went to MacArthur Park where I saw federal agents, military vehicles and federalized troops – another example of the administration ratcheting up the chaos by deploying what looked like a military operation in our American city,' she said. 'What I saw today looked like a city under siege and under occupation.'
Bass said children were at summer camp when the ICE agents descended on the park. 'To have armored vehicles deployed on the streets of our city, to federalize the National Guard, to have the U.S. Marines who are trained to kill abroad, deployed to our city – all of this is outrageous and it is un-American,' she added. The mayor emphasized that 'there are entire sectors of our economy that rely on immigrant workers.' The constant raids across Los Angeles have driven the migrant workforce into hiding, sparking concerns over the sanctuary city's already rocky economic state.