Senator Jim Justice, a Republican from West Virginia and close political ally of Donald Trump, has broken from the administration's aggressive immigration enforcement agenda, recommending it "step back" to evaluate what it could do better.
"To get better, the first thing you got to do is admit you're doing something wrong," Justice told Politico. "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."
Ranchers Condemn ICE Activity
Justice, who also sits on the Senate agriculture committee, made his comments after three rancher associations condemned Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity for negatively affecting agricultural communities. His comments also come after an ACLU of West Virginia investigation found that about three-quarters of the more than 593 arrested by ICE in the state during "Operation Country Roads" in January had no criminal record.
"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 told Politico.
Impact on Agriculture and Rural Communities
For ranchers in rural communities, ICE operations have had "a massive chilling effect on the legal, documented, skilled workers" who assist in beef production and the cattle supply chain, the Kansas Livestock Association, Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association and Texas Cattle Feeders Association said in a statement released last week. Dairy farmers have also recently raised concerns that ICE operations in rural areas could soon hurt their industries.
"If we had a concerted effort to have enforcement activities within agriculture, you could really harm our ability to produce food to feed ourselves," Rick Naerebout, the CEO of the Idaho Dairymen's Association, told NPR.
Growing Republican Distance
West Virginia is home to more than 22,700 ranchers, most of which are family-owned. Justice's criticisms make him the latest Republican to distance himself from Trump in the lead-up to the midterm elections. Maria Elvira Salazar, a Republican congresswoman from Florida, recently ran a campaign advertisement telling Trump his "immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far". The Guardian has asked the White House for a response.
