Jasmine Crockett says America needs illegal immigrants because "we done picking cotton"

Representative Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) made the comment "we done picking cotton" during a speech at Grace Baptist Church in Waterbury, Connecticut, on April 6, 2025, as part of the church’s 125th anniversary celebration. She was addressing the role of immigrants in the U.S. economy, specifically in agriculture, and arguing against strict deportation policies, such as those pushed by the Trump administration. Her full statement included: “So I had to go around the country and educate people about what immigrants do for this country, or the fact that we are a country of immigrants. The fact is ain’t none of y’all trying to go and farm right now. Okay, so I’m lying? Raise your hands… You’re not. You’re not. We done picking cotton. We are. You can’t pay us enough to find a plantation.”

In context, Crockett was emphasizing that many Americans, particularly Black Americans in her audience, are no longer willing to take on the labor-intensive, low-wage agricultural jobs historically associated with slavery—like cotton picking. She implied that immigrants, including undocumented ones, now fill these essential roles, suggesting a reliance on their labor for such work. The phrase "we done picking cotton" is rooted in African American Vernacular English (AAVE), meaning "we’re finished with" or "we won’t return to" that past, evoking the history of enslaved Black people forced to pick cotton in the South. Her point was rhetorical, not literal—she wasn’t claiming personal experience but connecting to a shared historical narrative to underscore economic shifts and labor dynamics today. The remark stirred controversy, with critics on X and elsewhere calling it racially charged or out of touch, while supporters saw it as a blunt defense of immigrant contributions.

She basically implies that America needs illegal immigrants to work in the fields because she's or her people are not willing to do it.