Pelosi: Florida farmers need immigrants to 'pick the crops'

WASHINGTON (TND) — During remarks at the U.S. Capitol Friday, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., claimed Florida farmers are saying they need immigrants "to pick crops."

"Right now, the best thing that we can do for our economy is to have comprehensive immigration reform," Pelosi said while discussing the national imperatives of both securing the border and welcoming newcomers. "We have a shortage of workers in our country, and you see even in Florida, some of thefarmers and the growers saying 'Why are you shipping these immigrants up North? We need them to pick the crops down here.'"

Pelosi's comments come amid efforts by a handful of GOP governors to relocate migrants who crossed the southern border to "sanctuary cities" with lax policies on illegal immigration.

During her remarks at the Capitol Friday, Pelosi hammered the humanitarian need to help immigrants trying to enter the U.S. Calling former President Trump an "occasional occupant of the White House," she argued his immigration policies were not humane, a stance Pelosi claimed was also supported by faith communities around the country.

"When the president– the former, well occasional occupant of the White House who preceded President Biden, when he had the ban on Muslims everybody came forward, our military, our diplomats our faith community, and one part of the faith community, the Evangelical community of America, they came forward and said the refugee resettlement program of the United States is the highlight of our humanitarianism in our country," Pelosi said Friday. "It is– we have a responsibility to accept some of these people."

Pelosi was referring to Trump's executive orders that sought to enhance screening processes in order to detect individuals with terroristic ties, primarily from Middle Eastern countries, and stop them from entering the country.

When asked by a reporter whether she believed the border was secure, Pelosi responded that she believes "we have to have a secure border," and she thinks that "the president has a plan to address that."