Opinion: Ending the Two-Tier System—Trump’s Immigration Policy and the Fight for Fairness
By Hans Wilder Watertown, NY
Let’s talk about immigration, the dairy industry, and the working class—because no one else wants to connect the dots. President Trump’s plan to deport thousands of undocumented immigrants might sound harsh to some, but let’s cut through the noise and talk about why this second-class system of undocumented labor isn’t just unfair—it’s un-American.
For decades, our politicians have looked the other way while millions of people lived and worked here without proper documentation, turning them into a permanent underclass. These workers, many of whom contribute to vital industries like agriculture, live in overcrowded housing, earn subpar wages, and are left vulnerable to exploitation. That’s not justice. That’s not fairness. That’s not the American dream.
Meanwhile, the same elites who defend this system tell us that Americans won’t get up at 4:30 a.m. to milk cows. Excuse me? That’s a slap in the face to every hardworking American who’s pulled themselves out of bed in the dark to put food on the table. Technology has revolutionized farming, and robotic milking machines are already being used on many dairies. If the industry invested in innovation and fair wages instead of leaning on cheap labor, we wouldn’t have to import a second class of people to prop it up.
This isn’t about turning our backs on immigrants—it’s about fixing a broken system that hurts everyone. Undocumented workers are stuck in the shadows, unable to fully participate in society, while the American working class is told their jobs aren’t good enough. That’s the real insult. We should be elevating American workers and giving immigrants a legal, dignified path to employment, not perpetuating this exploitative status quo.
Some will argue that deporting these workers will hurt farms, but the truth is, we’ve allowed an entire industry to rely on illegal labor for too long. Instead of protecting this flawed system, we should be pushing for reforms that ensure fair wages, good working conditions, and legal paths for immigrants to work here. Trump’s tough stance may be the wake-up call the agriculture industry—and Congress—needs to finally act.
The American populist movement is about fairness for all workers. That means ending this underclass system that divides people into categories of privilege. It’s not right to let businesses profit off people who have no legal protections, and it’s not right to tell Americans they’re too lazy to do these jobs. Both narratives are false, and both need to end.
So let’s stop pretending this is about cruelty or xenophobia. This is about restoring fairness, dignity, and justice to our immigration system and our labor force. It’s time to fix the root of the problem instead of letting it fester. Because in America, there’s no room for second-class citizens—or second-class workers.
