Immigration

Jaime Castaneda, executive vice president of policy development and strategy for the National Milk Producers Federation, looks at the issue of immigration reform through the eyes of an immigrant.

The day after Congress certified Donald Trump’s election as president, the U.S. Border Patrol conducted unannounced raids throughout Bakersfield, California, descending on businesses where day laborers and field workers gather. The impact was immediate.

This past year marked my second full year serving as executive vice president at the American Farm Bureau Federation and it has been inspiring to see our organization flourish as we serve farmers and ranchers.

By far the biggest lender to U.S. farmers, ranchers and rural businesses is the Farm Credit System whose four banks and 56 associations hold nearly 50% of all debt in rural America.

Voters chose to send Donald Trump, who served his first term as U.S. president from 2016 to 2020, back to the White House in the Nov. 5 national election.

Now that Republicans have a majority in the U.S. House, they are ready to get to work — and some work already has started.

News headlines in recent days, weeks, months and years have centered around our country’s southern border. Illegal immigration is, put simply, a big deal for border states and increasingly for all of America.