ICE raids on farm workers threaten food supply, advocates warn

UPI

5 days ago

1 of 3 | A group of protesters engage in a standoff with law enforcement officers outside a federal building in downtown Santa Ana as tensions over U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations across Southern California spread to Orange County on June 11. Photo by Lori Shepler/UPI | License Photo
June 23 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump's decision to target farm workers in immigration raids has advocates sounding the alarm that the U.S. food supply is at risk.
Trump changed direction on his deportation plans, shifting from avoiding farms, restaurants and the hospitality industry to a "no safe spaces" approach. Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of public affairs for the Department of Homeland Security, clarified the directions given for raids in a statement to UPI.
"The president has been incredibly clear. There will be no safe spaces for industries who harbor violent criminals or purposely try to undermine ICE's efforts," McLaughlin said. "Worksite enforcement remains a cornerstone of our efforts to safe guard [sic] public safety, national security and economic stability. These operations target illegal employment networks that undermine American workers, destabilize labor markets and expose critical infrastructure to exploitation."
McLaughlin and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not respond to follow-up questions.
About half of the hired agricultural workforce working on crop farms lack legal immigration status, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service. More than 80% are considered "settled" workers, meaning they continually work in a single location within 75 miles of their home.
It is not only undocumented workers who are worried about being detained, Ron Estrada, CEO of the nonprofit advocacy organization Farmworker Justice, told UPI. Legally authorized workers and citizens have been swept up in the raids as well.
"That is something that is absolutely unacceptable in this day and age in our country," Estrada said. "We're at the point where people are not risking being detained or arrested so they're not showing up for work."
Antonio De Loera-Brust, spokesperson for United Farm Workers, told UPI that most immigrant workers continue going to work despite their fears.
"They cannot afford not to, given the shameful poverty and low wages farm workers endure," he said. "The workers who feed America should not have to go to work afraid they won't come home."
Enforcement activities have been prevalent in California's Coachella Valley and Ventura County, disrupting grape, lemon, strawberry and date operations, according to De Loera-Brust. The citrus harvest in Kern County, Calif., early in the year was also affected by a wave of deportations.
ICE reported detaining more than 100 people in Tallahassee, Fla., during a raid on May 29. The raid took place at a construction site where immigrants from Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia and Honduras were arrested.
"These types of enforcement actions aim to eliminate illegal employment, holding employers accountable and protecting employment opportunities for America's lawful workforce," Nicholas Ingegno, assistant special agent with ICE Homeland Security Investigations, said in a statement.
Nebraska has also faced large raids, including the raid of a meat-packing plant in Omaha where more than 70 people were detained. The Nebraska Alliance for Thriving Communities said in a statement that the Trump administration's detention and removal policy has "sent harmful ripple effects" across the state.
"From our many perspectives and thousands of conversations across the state, we know the current situation is unsustainable. We have tens of thousands of unfilled jobs of all types in our state," the statement said. "These events -- and their overwhelming impact on people and workplaces -- are symptoms of a broader 40-year policy failure by Congress to update our federal immigration laws."
Carmen Martinez, deputy policy director for Centro de los Derechos del Migrante Inc., told UPI that the raids can have a chilling effect on workers reporting abuse in the workplace, such as wage theft, discrimination and unsafe working environments.
"Folks who are reluctant to come in because they're afraid they're going to be the next target for deportation are also hesitant to speak about any issues they experience in the workplace," Martinez said. "Because folks need to make a living these folks will be putting up with a lot more abuses."
Martinez said in the agriculture industry there is a large share of workers who are undocumented while many others are working under the H-2A temporary agricultural workers program.
"We'll all be for worse," Martinez said of the effects of continuing raids. "If folks who are putting food on our table don't feel safe going to work it's going to have a huge impact. And scrupulous employers will continue to abuse their workers."
The loss of even a portion of the migrant workforce will be difficult to replace, according to Estrada. Many of the positions filled by immigrants of all statuses are jobs that other Americans will not take. These are also jobs that cannot be automated.
"There's been discussion of mechanization replacing these workers. It will never fully replace human hands," Estrada said. "Especially in our specialty crops. Farmworkers are still very much needed because the crops that require handpicking like tomatoes, you don't want to bruise the harvest. The reality is you still need these hands, these skilled labor workers to come in and do the work."
With an unknown number of migrant workers being removed from the workforce, the nation's food supply will be directly affected.
"Eventually we will see prices increase. We're going to have some consumer shock," Estrada said. "After prices continue to go up there is going to be a decrease in availability of some fresh fruits and vegetables. That is going to be the result of farms closing because of the impact of labor issues and having a lack of workforce. Then we lose that production."
Those who remain on the job will not be able to make up for lost production, Estrada added.
"If you remove 50% of the workforce, you can imagine what the other 50% is going to go through," he said. "They can't double their hours. They're already maximizing the time they're on the fields. This is something that requires a permanent solution."