Marshall praises Trump but acknowledges tariffs, immigration policies hurt KS businesses

U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall told Wichita business leaders that President Donald Trump could consider a path toward amnesty for certain undocumented workers in Kansas after the 2026 midterm elections. And he acknowledged that tariffs are hurting small businesses.

Marshall stopped in Wichita on Tuesday as part of a Kansas tour touting the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a massive Republican-backed bill approved by Congress and signed into law by Trump on July 4. As he spoke at a Wichita Regional Chamber of Commerce lunch, dozens of protesters stood outside.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act continues and expands many of the tax cuts passed during Trump’s first term while adding $3.4 trillion to the budget deficit by 2034 and causing about 10 million Americans to lose their health insurance coverage during that same period, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

It also increases funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement from $10 billion to more than $100 billion a year by 2029 to help block illegal border crossings and fund mass deportations.

“I’ve said for years, we can’t have a serious discussion about immigration reform until we secure the border,” Marshall said. “Well, that day’s here.”

Marshall said he has confidence that Trump will bring forth solutions that will both secure the border and create a path to legal status for some undocumented workers.

“I think you’ve heard President Trump say eight times now that he’s interested in fixing this problem, not that I’m counting,” Marshall said. “But he said it eight times, and it’ll take someone like President Trump to be able to get this initiative across the finish line.”

“As he (Trump) said, he gets to define a lot of things, including what amnesty looks like, right?” Marshall said. “So we have all these undocumented immigrants in the country, you know? How do we make things square with them?”

Marshall applauded the Trump administration’s immigration policies, which have led to a decline in the country’s foreign-born population for the first time since the 1960s but have also come under fire for allegedly violating rights to due process. He defended ICE raids in Kansas, saying “these ICE raids are not random; there’s a reason that they’re there.”

But, Marshall said, those policies could hurt the Sunflower State’s economy, especially in agriculture, manufacturing and construction.

“It’s not lost upon me that we have more jobs than we do people in Kansas — through our whole country for that matter. But especially in Kansas we’re feeling this pinch,” Marshall said.

“It’s no longer just agriculture,” he said. “It’s manufacturing companies as well as — whether you’re fixing roads or roofing houses and all those types of jobs: Let’s face it, that it’s mostly — the workforce is basically an immigrant population.

“So I think that there is a long-term opportunity. I don’t think it’s going to be today; I don’t think it’s going to be tomorrow. I can see it after the next election that President Trump will take that head on and see if we can’t get something across the finish line. I think that would be real important to the workforce.”

The White House did not respond to The Eagle’s questions about Marshall’s comments or Trump’s plans after the 2026 midterms.

Marshall’s views on immigration

The comments align with Marshall’s long-held views on immigration reform but conflict with comments he made last month on the VINCE podcast, a program hosted by right-wing media figure Vince Coglianese, when he was asked if he would vote for legislation that grants amnesty to undocumented workers.

“No amnesty. Period. Full stop. End of paragraph. End of sentence. No amnesty,” Marshall said July 9 on the VINCE podcast. “The president made that very clear, and Secretary Rollins reiterated that five times yesterday. Republicans in the Senate do not favor amnesty.”

Those comments followed a statement by Trump that suggested ICE would avoid mass deportations of undocumented farm workers “if a farmer is willing to vouch for these people.” Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins later said “there will be no amnesty” for those workers.

Marshall also defended a recent increase in ICE raids.

“There are no random ICE raids happening,” Marshall said. “There is a reason. I checked into it. Every time I hear about an ICE raid in Kansas, well, what’s the reason? Well, there’s human trafficking going on there. There are drug traffickers hiding in there, cartel members hiding in that workforce. And I can’t change that. But I think the mantra is, we want this country to be safe.”

He continued on, claiming without evidence that the raids are needed to combat criminal cartels in Kansas.

“The cartel absolutely has positions set up across the state of Kansas,” Marshall said. “Not trying to scare you, but I’m just saying that it’s for real. . . . These ICE raids are not random. There’s a reason that they’re there. There’s a person or persons that they are trying to remove from society so that your families will be safe.”

Kansas small businesses and tariffs

While praising Trump, Marshall acknowledged that the president’s crackdown on illegal immigration and his economic policies aimed at boosting domestic production by increasing the cost of imported goods threaten to hurt small businesses in Kansas — at least in the short term.

As an example, he pointed to a window manufacturing company in Fort Scott, which competes against foreign companies that offer cheaper windows using stolen intellectual property along with cheaper labor and materials.

“So little companies like that are growing and growing and growing,” Marshall said. “Their biggest challenge, though, is the lack of people for the jobs they have. And I’m going to acknowledge that the tariffs on aluminum and steel are starting to make it harder now. It’s driving up our cost of doing business.”

Marshall said he believes it will be at least four to six years before domestic production can catch up to the demand for aluminum and steel by U.S. companies. He hasn’t been successful in persuading Trump to exempt those products from tariffs.

“One of my prayers every morning is that I can do justice,” Marshall said. “So when President Trump and I have these conversations, and I say, ‘Gosh, Mr. President, these aluminum and steel tariffs are starting to hurt people in Kansas.’ And he would say, ‘Well, you know, if I give them an exemption, everyone else wants an exemption. And so in the meantime, we’re not going to give anybody an exemption.’”

Silent protest against Marshall, Trump policies

Marshall left the chamber luncheon, where he was the keynote speaker, without taking questions from reporters.

He also avoided mentioning dozens of protesters outside who were frustrated that he did not hold a town hall meeting to take questions from the general public in Wichita.

Protesters with Leading Kansas, a group that helped organize Wichita’s “No Kings Day” protest in June, staged a silent protest of Marshall at the entrance of the hotel where he was speaking.

Members of the group didn’t carry posterboards or recite chants or cheers, but instead held a large black banner in synchronous silence. Other protesters carried cow bells, picket signs and American flags as they expressed their frustrations about Marshall and the Trump administration more broadly. They plan another demonstration outside another chamber event featuring Wichita Congressman Ron Estes on Thursday.

“Representative government only works when representatives are willing to face the people they serve,” Noah Taylor, a co-founder of Leading Kansas, said in a news release about the protest. “Congressman Estes hasn’t held an open, in-person town hall in seven years, and Senator Marshall has ignored repeated invitations to engage. That is unacceptable.”

Kristy Bruns, who has attended several other past protests, including the No Kings Day protest in downtown Wichita, brought her golden retriever, Odin, to the Webb curbside to protest Marshall’s inaction against some of President Donald Trump’s policies and initiatives.

Odin, nicknamed “Odie,” wore a sign adorned with tennis balls that read, “FREE BALLS for Congress ... ‘cuz they lost theirs.“

“You go because you’re not the only one — you’re not crazy,” Bruns said.

Allison Campbell contributed reporting.

This story was originally published August 27, 2025 at 11:56 AM.