Critics sound off against Trump’s ‘temporary pass’ for migrant farm, hospitality workers

As Immigration and Customs Enforcement continues its operations throughout the United States, debate rages on the right over President Donald Trump’s proposed “temporary pass” for some farmworkers and those in the hospitality industry.

While touring “Alligator Alcatraz” in Florida with Gov. Ron DeSantis and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, the president elaborated on his proposal.

“We have a lot of cases where ICE will go into the farm, and these are guys working for 10-15 years, no problem. The farmers know them. It’s called farmer responsibility, or owner responsibility, where they’re gonna be largely responsible for these people. And they know these people, they’ve worked on the farms for 15 years,” Trump said in Florida on Tuesday.

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Workers in the farm and hospitality industry could potentially get a “temporary pass” from the Trump administration as ICE operations continue. (Getty Images)

“We’re going to give them responsibility for people, and we’re going to have a system of signing them up so they don’t have to go. They can be here legally, they can pay taxes, and everything. They’re not getting citizenship, but they get other things. And the farmers need them to do the work,” he said.

While some Republicans believe that the primary focus should be on those with a criminal background only, others have criticized the proposal made by the president.

“This is a bad idea. The law should not be enforced selectively, with politically-connected employers getting away with hiring illegal workers,” Jessica M. Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, told Fox News Digital in an email.

“Farm employers have access to a work visa program that allows them to hire an unlimited number of foreign workers, as long as they pay them a certain wage and provide other benefits. They shouldn’t get a pass now for their unscrupulous behavior before. Hotel employers can get seasonal workers, and many of them do,” she added.

In California, six state-level Republican lawmakers signed a letter calling on the president to “direct ICE and DHS to focus their enforcement operations on criminal immigrants, and when possible to avoid the kinds of sweeping raids that instill fear and disrupt the workplace,” KCRA reported.

However, Republican state Sen. Melissa Melendez criticized the stance in a post on X regarding the letter.

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Protesters confront Border Patrol agents in Bell, California, on June 19, 2025. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

“So, if I’m to understand this correctly, we should look the other way regarding illegal immigration as long as it’s in the construction, hotel, or restaurant industries? This is far beyond disappointing, it’s infuriating,” Melendez wrote.

The White House emphasized that it’s a matter of prioritization when it comes to overall deportation efforts, as it was a key promise of the president on the campaign trail. 

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“The White House is working closely every day with Department of Agriculture as well as the Department of Homeland Security when it comes to worksite enforcement. And the President’s focus and the focus of this Administration is, of course, to remove public safety threats from the streets and to deport as many of the illegal criminals, especially the violent criminals, that we know are still here because of the previous administration,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during Monday’s press briefing.

In addition, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital that the president “remains committed to carrying out the largest mass deportation operation in history by removing dangerous, violent criminal illegal aliens from American communities and targeting the sanctuary cities that provide safe harbor to criminal illegals.”

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President Trump walks with Secretary Noem and Gov. DeSantis and others at “Alligator Alcatraz.” (Getty Images )

The president said that “Changes are coming!” to immigration enforcement for the agriculture and hospitality sectors in a Truth Social post on June 12. Days later, border czar Tom Homan noted that worksite enforcement was ongoing “even on farms and hotels but based on a prioritized basis,” but said that “Criminals come first,” according to Axios on June 19.

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Trump further explained the concept on “Sunday Morning Futures” this week, saying that he’s “the strongest immigration guy that there’s ever been, but I’m also the strongest farmer guy that there’s ever been.”

Fox News Digital reached out to DHS and ICE for comment.