Arkansas – “My Democratic opponent doubled down on trading one American for five illegal immigrants. This is not the same Democratic party of ten years or even four years ago,” Sen. Tom Cotton said after Democratic Arkansas Senate nominee Hallie Shoffner defended her comments about undocumented agricultural workers and called for a broader discussion about the workers relied on by the state’s farming industry.
Cotton’s comments came after Shoffner’s campaign responded to growing criticism over remarks she made during a recent episode of the Free Arkansas podcast. Shoffner, a sixth-generation Arkansas farmer challenging Cotton for the U.S. Senate, was discussing immigration and the role of foreign-born workers in agriculture when she defended undocumented workers and questioned why they were being removed from the country.
“Every farmer will tell you at one point, we did, or still do, employ undocumented immigrants, and it’s absolutely ridiculous that these folks are being rounded up because they’re hardworking people,” Shoffner said during the interview.
“They’re some of the best people we know, and honestly, we’d trade five Americans for just one of them because of how hard they work,” she added.
The remarks quickly spread online after conservative journalist Matthew Foldi posted a video clip from the interview. Breitbart, The Post Millennial and other conservative outlets subsequently reported on the comments, while South Arkansas Now contacted both the Shoffner and Cotton campaigns for responses.
Shoffner’s campaign did not simply ignore the controversy. Instead, campaign manager Anna-Lee Pittman defended the candidate and argued that Cotton was taking a portion of a longer conversation out of context.
“If Tom Cotton were a football coach, he’d be the easiest to defend because he only has one play,” Pittman said in a statement provided to South Arkansas Now. The campaign accused Cotton of “combing through video clips” to find what it called an “inelegant phrase or line” that could be presented without the context of the approximately 65-minute interview.
The Shoffner campaign said the candidate was relaying a conversation she had previously had with another farmer about the challenges facing agricultural employers.
“Most Arkansans want to have a serious and thoughtful conversation about immigration. Farmers do. Small businesses do. Workers do. Communities do,” the campaign said.
The campaign also said Shoffner’s broader position was that the border should be secure, immigration laws should be enforced and the country needs an immigration system that works for farmers, businesses, workers and communities.
“That means having an honest conversation about the workers our agricultural economy relies on and creating a legal, functional system instead of using immigration as a political weapon,” the campaign said.
Shoffner’s remarks have received significant attention because immigration has already become one of the central issues in her Senate campaign against Cotton.
Earlier this year, Shoffner drew criticism over comments about Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In June, she said she would vote to defund ICE “as it exists right now” and said she would not spend “one more dime” on the agency. She later clarified her position, saying she did not want to defund ICE but wanted to reform it. Fox News reported that the change in position became a focus of Cotton’s attacks against her.
Cotton has continued to highlight those earlier comments while portraying Shoffner’s immigration positions as out of step with Arkansas voters. In a Sept. 4 interview reported by Fox News, Cotton argued that cutting ICE funding would affect federal immigration enforcement as well as Arkansas law enforcement agencies that cooperate with the agency.
The latest controversy centers specifically on agricultural labor.
Shoffner has repeatedly discussed the role of foreign-born workers in Arkansas agriculture. Breitbart reported that she has spoken about growing up around farm workers from Mexico and Honduras and has described the H-2A agricultural visa program as a major source of labor for farmers.
The H-2A program allows eligible agricultural employers to bring foreign workers to the United States temporarily for seasonal agricultural work. Shoffner’s comments about undocumented workers came while she was discussing the broader labor challenges facing farmers and the lack of what she considers an effective legal pathway for some agricultural workers.
“And why is there no pathway for them to work here legally when they’re good workers?” Shoffner asked during the podcast. “We pay them well. They spend money here. They have family here.”
South Arkansas Now reported that the Arkansas AFL-CIO had endorsed Shoffner’s Senate campaign and was contacted about whether the organization would respond to the comments or reconsider its endorsement. The outlet said it had not received a response from Arkansas AFL-CIO President Gerald Sale at the time of publication.
The controversy has also drawn attention from national conservative political figures and organizations. The National Republican Senatorial Committee highlighted the remarks, while Cotton has incorporated them into his broader criticism of Shoffner’s immigration positions.
Cotton’s latest post argued that Shoffner’s decision to stand by the remarks represented a broader shift within the Democratic Party on immigration.
“Democrats haven’t changed their position on immigration. They’ve doubled down,” Cotton wrote in an earlier post, pointing to both Shoffner’s comments about agricultural workers and her previous statements regarding ICE.
Shoffner’s campaign, meanwhile, maintains that the comments have been taken out of the context of a much longer discussion about farm labor and immigration policy. Her campaign says she supports border security and enforcement of immigration laws while also arguing that Arkansas farmers need a legal and functional system for obtaining agricultural workers.
The dispute now adds another immigration-focused confrontation to the Arkansas Senate race, with Cotton emphasizing Shoffner’s comments about American and undocumented workers while Shoffner’s campaign is attempting to redirect the discussion toward agricultural labor shortages and changes to the country’s immigration system.
With the election approaching, the comments are likely to remain part of the debate over Shoffner’s immigration platform and her broader effort to define herself as a candidate focused on Arkansas farmers, workers and the state’s agricultural economy.