President Donald Trump said Thursday that some deported migrants could get a chance to return to the United States for work.
“If they go out in a nice way, they go back to their country, we’re going to work with them right from the beginning on trying to get them back in legally,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting at the White House. “It gives you a real incentive. Otherwise, they never come back. They’ll never be allowed once a certain period of time goes by, which is probably going to be 60 days.”
Trump campaigned heavily on stopping illegal immigration and deporting migrants with no legal basis to be in the U.S. But his comments leave a door open for at least some of them to return.
Migrant labor has been a big contributor to domestic agriculture for decades, and some experts have questioned whether farms can continue to operate if all undocumented immigrants were deported.
Trump said he is open to working with farmers on the matter.
“If they have strong recommendations for their farms for certain people, we’re going to let them stay in for a while, work with the farmers, and then come back and go through a process — a legal process,” Trump said. “But we have to take care of our farmers and hotels and various various places where they need the people.”
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Trump often says he is in favor of people moving to the U.S. so long as they do it legally.
“A farmer will come in with a letter concerning certain people, saying they’re great, they’re working hard,” he said. “We’re going to slow it down a little bit for them, and then we’re going to ultimately bring them back. They’ll go out, [then] they’re going to come back as legal workers.”