Republican strategist Ana Navarro claimed illegal immigrant labor on farms helps limit the spread of the coronavirus.
On Wednesday’s airing of ABC’s The View, Navarro blasted President Trump’s planned executive order to place a moratorium on immigration amid the pandemic, saying illegal immigrants are risking their lives to continue feeding people who are practicing social distancing.
“If you were able to pour fresh milk into your cereal this morning, if you had sliced strawberries, if you have been eating meat, if you have been drinking dairy, it’s probably because there are immigrants, undocumented immigrants, in the fields of America risking their lives, working not at 6 feet apart in order to continue feeding us,” Navarro said.
“So you know how we often like to say, and you often hear, ‘oh, immigrants do the job nobody else is willing to do?’ Well, a lot of those Jobs include risking their lives so the rest of us can be in quarantine, and we can stop this evil pandemic. So we really have to think about just how much immigration has meant to flattening this curve and dealing with this issue. Legal and undocumented. That’s the damn truth,” she added.
On Monday, Trump announced on Twitter his intention to sign an executive order to halt immigration temporarily during the coronavirus pandemic. “In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States!” he said.
In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 21, 2020
The president later announced exceptions for landscapers, farm workers, and other immigrants, saying the temporary ban was placed in order to protect American jobs.
“It would be wrong and unjust for Americans laid off by the virus to be replaced with new immigrants, labor flown in from abroad,” Trump said at Tuesday’s White House press briefing, referring to the 22 million people who have filed for unemployment benefits over the past four weeks. “We must first take care of the American worker, take care of the American worker.”
