MAGA on "amnesty watch" as Trump weighs migrant worker protections

President Trump's base is on high alert over his mixed messages on protections for some undocumented workers, warning that any form of "amnesty" would violate a red line.Why it matters: MAGA sees Trump's promise of mass deportations as non-negotiable. Any attempt to water down the administration's immigration crackdown risks alienating his most loyal and fervent supporters."MAGA is always on amnesty watch. It will not move forward no matter what name anyone tries to call it. They all have to go home," right-wing podcaster Jack Posobiec told Axios.Catch up quick: Trump has spent weeks flirting with the idea of shielding undocumented workers in agriculture and hospitality — industries critical to the economy and to GOP donors — from deportation.He has insisted there will be "no amnesty," but also suggested that some workers might be allowed to stay if their employers "take responsibility" for them."What we're doing is getting rid of criminals. But we are doing a work program," Trump said at a Cabinet meeting this week.Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins initially echoed the softer tone, but later stressed at a press conference: "There will be no amnesty. The mass deportations continue, but in a strategic way."Driving the news: MAGA influencers had been grumbling for days over the muddled rhetoric, but the dam burst Monday when influential podcaster Charlie Kirk warned of a plot by the "ruling class" to implement some kind of "mass amnesty" plan."There is a movement afoot…[People] are pushing President Trump for amnesty, they are pushing him for mass legalization of illegals," Kirk claimed.Social media panic ensued, with MAGA accounts and Republican senators plastering "no amnesty!" across their social media accounts.On Tuesday, after praising Rollins' "no amnesty" statement, Kirk warned of a "narrative in the next couple of months" from "the corporate class."The plan, he claimed, would offer undocumented immigrants who have lived in the U.S. for at least a decade — and avoided criminal charges — a pathway to legal residency.Backlash quickly spread across MAGA media, from Steve Bannon's "War Room" to Posobiec's "Human Events Daily" podcast. "Mass deportations now, amnesty never," Bannon declared Tuesday morning.The intrigue: Trump, for his part, appeared taken aback. "What are they talking about?" he asked aides, according to The Washington Post.A White House official told Axios that the administration is streamlining its visa programs to both ensure efficiency and that farmers have what they need."President Trump is fulfilling his promise to the American people to carry out the largest mass deportation operation in history. There will be no amnesty. Only deportations of the violent, criminal illegal aliens that Joe Biden welcomed into the country," White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement.Between the lines: Trump's broad coalition isn't entirely united on the issue.Immigration hardliners view anything resembling protections for undocumented immigrants as a betrayal. For them, "amnesty" is a political profanity.But Trump also courted more moderate voices in 2024 like Joe Rogan, who has voiced concerns on his massive podcast about aggressive workplace raids.Agriculture and hospitality executives — including some of Trump's most influential donors — are also pushing for flexibility."Business needs labor. That has been heavily communicated to the admin," one GOP donor texted Axios, adding the message had been delivered directly to Trump and his aides.The bottom line: For the core of Trump's base, the immigration issue is viewed as nothing short of existential.The movement has long warned that both legal and illegal immigration are reshaping the country's identity and threatening American jobs. "He cannot look like he's changing his tone. I think he's getting some really, really bad advice from some of his big donors that own hotels, that own Big Ag," one senior MAGA media figure told Axios. "It's so primary to what MAGA voters…care about."

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