GOP Senator Wants Trump To Scale Back Deportation Campaign
This story raises questions about governance, accountability, and American values.
The ranchers' complaint is suddenly the story, not the raids. Federal agents in Texas, Kansas, and Oklahoma are rounding up workers, and the cattlemen say it's costing them millions and messing with the supply chain. That is a real problem, and it cuts right across the usual immigration debate.
New Republican Times Editorial Board
Sen. Jim Justice (R-WV) is urging President Donald Trump to take a lighter hand when it comes to immigration enforcement amid an outcry from ranchers, according to Politico. Ranching groups recently expressed concern over federal immigration raids in Texas, Kansas, and Oklahoma, saying they are costing the industry millions of dollars and hurting supply chains, the outlet reported. “Before you know it, you get people that get carried away in their job and whatever it may be, and all of a sudden, then you’re dragging people away that have lived on your street corner for 15 years, and I don’t know that we need to be doing that stuff,” Justice said in an interview Tuesday. “To get better, the first thing you got to do is admit you’re doing something wrong,” he said. “And in this situation, with all that’s going on and all the stuff, we probably got to step back from it and say, ‘Maybe we’re doing something wrong here or there,’ and then adjust to that.” Ranching industry leaders have said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations have scared laborers away from showing up to work, hurting their profits, Politico reported. “It is a very difficult balancing act from the standpoint of our ranchers … all of a sudden, they’re understaffed,” Justice said.
On Wednesday, Justice, a Trump ally, took to X to clarify his stance on immigration raids. “Let me be crystal clear: I support President Trump’s immigration strategy, full stop,” Justice wrote. “Our brave ICE officers are doing an incredible job protecting our communities, and they must continue to focus on criminals who are here illegally and putting Americans in danger.” Justice is not the only Republican speaking out about the impact of the mass deportation campaign on the agricultural industry. “It really makes it incumbent on DHS to make sure for the folks that can be here, if there’s permitting and processing, that we get that done,” Republican Senator John Hoeven of North Dakota said. “Because a lot of those folks are legal temporary workers.” Rep.
María Elvira Salazar (R-FL) went even harder in a recent campaign video , condemning the president, who endorsed her for reelection. Salazar argued that Trump’s aggressive immigration raids are alienating Hispanic voters who helped him secure the presidency in 2024. “Mr.
President, some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far,” Salazar said in the ad. “Be careful what your advisers are telling you about immigration policy. The same Hispanics who helped you get to the White House in 2024 feel betrayed today.” Create a free account to join the conversation!
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New Republican Times Editorial Board
The ranchers' complaint is suddenly the story, not the raids. Federal agents in Texas, Kansas, and Oklahoma are rounding up workers, and the cattlemen say it's costing them millions and messing with the supply chain. That is a real problem, and it cuts right across the usual immigration debate. You can believe in enforcement and still notice when the enforcement lands on the wrong people at the wrong time.
Jim Justice isn't a Never Trumper. He's a former governor of a coal state, a Trump ally, and he's telling the President to ease up. Why? Because the people back home are screaming. Ranchers can't just hire a new hand overnight, and you don't lead a cow to slaughter with a job application. Nobody voted to make beef and milk more expensive so the border patrol could run a job site sweep a thousand miles from the Rio Grande.
This is the messiness of actually governing. Trump has every right to run a serious deportation campaign, and the left's open-borders tantrums are useless. But a conservative should be able to say when a policy is hurting Americans. The goal is criminals, not cowboys. We don't need to apologize for enforcing the law, but we do need to distinguish between a threat to public safety and the guy doing the work no one else wants. If the administration doesn't listen, it'll lose the very people who cheered the loudest.
The takeaway is simple: keep the sheriffs hunting cartel bosses and gang members. Let the ranchers hire the hands they need. Smart enforcement isn't weak enforcement. It's the difference between an immigration policy that works and one that just makes for good campaign ads. We hope Trump listens to Justice, because the people who put him back in the White House are the ones feeling this squeeze.
Commentary written with AI assistance by the New Republican Times Editorial Board.