WILLIAM BRANGHAM: President Trump's aggressive immigration enforcement is being felt across the country.

Immigration arrests have gone up in every state and more than doubled in 38 states.

The biggest increase is happening in Idaho, where, since January 20, ice has made more than 300 arrests.

One Idaho farmer, Shay Myers, who grows onions and other vegetables, is speaking out on behalf of his immigrant work force.

SHAY MYERS, Farmer: I know the undocumented workers that we're talking about deporting because I grew up in a small farming town.

I went to school with kids that were undocumented.

My kids go to school in a small town with kids who may not be documented.

If we're going to do things the right way, we need to think about the human, ethical side of mass deportation.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And farmer Shay Myers joins me now.

Shay, thank you so much for being here.

You voted for President Trump.

He was very clear during his campaign that he would do the things that he is now doing on immigration, but you have been critical of some of these policies.

I'm curious as to why you chose to speak out.

SHAY MYERS: Yes, William, thanks for having me on.

I chose to speak out because it's wrong.

It's wrong for the people who have been here for decades upon decades and who contribute on a daily basis to every aspect of the U.S. economy, every aspect of the U.S. culture.

They're an important part of who we are.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: But that message, what you're saying in the Republican Party in particular, is not -- that's not a common theme that you hear.

SHAY MYERS: That is true.

It isn't a common theme, I think.

But in a lot of ways, whether it's left or right, whether it's Democrat or Republican, there's a very, very big misunderstanding about what it means to be an immigrant in the United States, what it means to be a falsely documented immigrant in the United States.

And so really the message needs to be spread to everyone so that they can understand it.

And certainly the right-wing Republicans have a hard time understanding, many of them, the reality of the contribution that immigrants play in the United States and the role they play on our farms and in our factories and in our hotels and in every aspect of the culture.

But the only thing we can do is to try and speak up and speak out.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Amongst the immigrant work force that you have, do you hear from them about -- I mean, how are they feeling in this moment seeing the news of these arrests around the country?

SHAY MYERS: You know, they're frustrated, they're scared, but, more than anything, they're feeling like they're being judged in a way that they never have before.

Just a few years ago, during the middle of COVID, they were deemed to be essential workers, essential to the survival of our country, right?

And we were praising farmworkers for what they do and the contribution that they made and the food that they provided us.

And all of a sudden, they're like criminals, right?

And so they have suddenly found themselves in a place where they don't -- that they're losing their footing and they don't understand why the harsh judgment when, such a short time ago, they were so important.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The president at one point, sort of citing what you're exactly talking about, floated the idea of not targeting farmworkers, though His ag secretary, Brooke Rollins, recently said that's not the case.

What would you like to see done about immigration reform in this country?

SHAY MYERS: Yes, I mean, in that aspect, President Trump is right.

And Brooke Rollins didn't say that there wasn't a path to citizenship.

What she was saying is there wasn't amnesty.

And I agree with both of those sides.

As an advocate for immigrants, I want them to be able to feel comfortable, to be able to do their job, to be here in this country because they have done the right thing in contributing to our economy and to our culture and to our society.

But at the same time, we can't just give them their citizenship.

And the idea that someone who has proven that they have worked in the United States for several years, that they have been contributing and paying taxes and participating in that way should have a way to get a legal working status to be here in the United States, and that's partially because, if we don't have them, then we don't provide the food for people in this country.

And that's the part that people miss.

If we snap our fingers and every immigrant, undocumented worker is gone from this country, we will not eat in this country.

And it sounds like an exaggeration, but it is not.

We will not eat.

We will starve.

If tomorrow we said, hey, all of you that are illegal, you're not going to work, you're out of the field and you're out of the country, we won't eat.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: I hear everything you're saying, but let's just say you decide to hang up your farmer's hat and run for office in your own Republican Party.

You know you don't have a chance even getting through a primary talking like that.

How do we fix that?

SHAY MYERS: You know, I'm not sure that -- in this world anymore, I hope that I do.

Now, as a Republican, I'm not going to win.

But you're -- you're not incorrect there.

But I think as a commonsense citizen of this country, if I came to people, I think there's enough people from the center of the aisle, from both sides, whether they're a Republican or Democrat, that they would listen to what I had to say and they would understand it, because, on the far left, I have problems and, on the far right, I have problems.

But in the middle, there's a lot of people that understand that we need to fix this and we need to fix it badly for the economics of the country and for the ethics of the people.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: In addition to being what sounds like a very successful farmer, you also have a great social media presence.

And you sometimes turn your social media over to some of those immigrant workers.

Let's hear a little bit from one of those clips.

MAN: Every time you see food on your table, every time you see or you enjoy a really good steak, you should think about immigration as good, those jobs that sometimes you don't think about it.

We are grateful for this country.

Immigrant shouldn't mean bad.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: That appeal to both see the connections between our food and the immigrants who help produce it is clearly, as you have been saying, meant to humanize the people who are in this country helping us.

Who are you trying to speak to, putting those voices out there?

SHAY MYERS: You know, I'm trying to speak to the human heart is really what I'm trying to speak to.

Like, we all need to understand the contribution that these folks make and the necessity that we have as an economy, as a country to have them here.

Immigrants have been part of our system since the beginning of our country.

They have come, they have contributed and they have made a difference both for themselves and to lift up and improve our country.

And they're a necessary part of everything.

And I just want everyone to realize that that is the case.

And they're real people.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Shay Myers, farmer from Idaho, thank you so much for your time.

Really appreciate it.

SHAY MYERS: I appreciate you having me.