Indiana GOP congressman faces backlash for supporting immigration bill amid Trump deportation efforts
'If you try to deport all of them, you're going to crash the economy,' Stutzman said, citing concerns from an Indiana poultry farmer who was worried deportation efforts could harm their business operations, The Wall Street Journal reported July 16.
In an IndyStar interview July 17 Stutzman reaffirmed his support for Trump's mass deportation campaign against undocumented immigrants, which has included sweeping raids on farms, but reiterated the benefits of the legislation he is cosponsoring.
'Finding the labor for agriculture is important. Again, they need to be legal,' he said. 'That's what this bill sets out to accomplish.'
Stutzman picked up his 3rd district seat to return to Congress in 2024 after now Sen. Jim Banks left it vacant to run for the U.S. Senate. While Banks served as the district's representative, he too expressed concern that the mass deportation of immigrants could harm the area's economy.
Almost half of crop farmworkers in the U.S. between 2020 to 2022 were not authorized to work in the U.S., according to Department of Labor data. Indiana has 102,000 undocumented immigrants according to the Migration Policy Institute, 62% of which are employed.
The sheer number of workers who are undocumented immigrants make the effect of widespread raids more pronounced.
'All of a sudden, they're gone,' Stutzman told IndyStar. 'Well, then it disrupts the operations of a company.'
The bipartisan bill, called the DIGNITY Act, would provide legal status to undocumented immigrants who have lived in the U.S. for at least five years, so long as they pass a criminal background check, pay a $7,000 fine across seven years and begin paying taxes. The bill would allow people with this status to stay indefinitely, though they would be ineligible for federal benefits.
For Stutzman, the bill would encompass the numerous immigrants who have been working for years on farms, in Indiana's RV manufacturing industry, construction and hospitality.
Stutzman's support of the bill drew accusations on social media that Stutzman was promoting amnesty for undocumented immigrants.
The congressman rejected the accusations in a post on X the afternoon of July 17.
The bill was introduced by Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., who described the DIGNITY Act as an alternative to choosing between amnesty and deportation for undocumented workers at a press conference announcing the bill July 15.
Greg Shufeldt, a political science professor at the University of Indianapolis, said the pressure Stutzman is facing reflects a broader tension between the economic and cultural conservative wings of the Republican Party.
The issue may be greater for a Republican from a strong red district like Stutzman, where facing a well-funded primary challenger is often a greater threat than the opposing party.
'He doesn't have to worry about his November 2026 constituency, he has to worry about ensuring that he wins Republican primaries,' Shufeldt said.
That effect can make it more difficult to pass bipartisan legislation, Shufeldt said, because it leads both Democrats and Republicans to use rhetoric that is good for their base but bad for compromise.
'If Stutzman has to really double down and say 'This is not amnesty, this is not amnesty'... it makes it harder for a Democrat that also has to be responsive to their constituency," he said.
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