President Donald Trump said Tuesday that undocumented immigrants are “naturally” inclined to perform farm labor, while suggesting that residents in “inner cities” typically do not work in such jobs. His remarks, made during an appearance on CNBC’s Squawk Box, have drawn both criticism and support, with some viewing them as reinforcing harmful stereotypes and others interpreting them as an acknowledgment of immigrants’ role in the agricultural workforce.

“These people do it naturally, naturally,” Trump said, referring to undocumented laborers, many of whom are of Hispanic descent. “People that live in the inner city are not doing that work. They’ve tried; we’ve tried; everybody tried. They don’t do it.” He went on to share a farmer’s claim that if a worker develops a back injury, “they die,” before adding—“In many ways they’re very, very special people.”

The comments follow similar remarks from Trump during his campaign last year, when he told Black journalists that immigrants were “taking Black jobs,” later clarifying: “A Black job is anybody that has a job.” Federal law prohibits employment discrimination based on race, and Black Americans are employed across all sectors, from agriculture to technology and government.

Trump’s administration has recently expanded deportation programs and third-country agreements, sending some immigrants to nations such as Rwanda and Eswatini. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids have increased at farms and food processing plants, even as Trump has acknowledged that farmers rely on the labor of many undocumented workers. “People that you can’t replace very easily,” he said, while also pledging to help farmers “keep migrant workers in certain situations.”

Labor rights advocates argue that assigning specific jobs to particular racial or ethnic groups perpetuates stereotypes and overlooks broader economic and policy factors. “There is nothing ‘natural’ about being in low-wage, dangerous work because of immigration status,” one advocate said, adding that such framing can obscure issues of workplace safety and fair pay.

Critics of Trump’s remarks see them as divisive, while supporters say they reflect economic realities in sectors where employers struggle to find domestic workers. The discussion comes amid ongoing debates over immigration policy, labor shortages, and the treatment of both documented and undocumented workers in the United States.