Farm Workers Across The U.S. Are Growing Concerned Over Surprise Immigration Raids: Report

With more than 20,000 "at large" immigration arrests and 37,660 deportations during President Donald Trump's first month back in office, migrant workers in the agriculture industry are growing anxious about the possibility of being deported by Trump's executive orders.

During his campaign trail, Trump promised to carry out the "largest deportation in the history" of the U.S., pledging to deport millions of undocumented immigrants living illegally in the U.S.

But according to the French news agency AFP, Trump's plans could have a huge negative impact on the U.S.'s agriculture sector, as 42% of the more than two million people working on farms across the country lack documentation that allows them to work legally.

"We have to stay hidden," Lourdes Cardenas, a 62-year-old Mexican living in the city of Fresno, told AFP. "You are unsure if you will encounter the immigration authorities. We can't be free anywhere, not in schools, not in churches, not in supermarkets," she added.

Cardenas' concerns grow as surprise immigration raids have been conducted across several cities since Trump took office. During his first week in the White House, Trump revoked decade-long protections that barred immigration enforcement in schools, hospitals, churches, and other designated "sensitive areas", marking a major shift in U.S. immigration policy.

The policy change, announced on Jan. 22, removed guidelines introduced by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in 2011 and later adopted by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in 2013. The measures were aimed at ensuring that enforcement actions did not discourage undocumented individuals from accessing essential services.

Advocacy groups have warned that large-scale deportations could disrupt food production, as California alone relies on undocumented workers for 75% of its farm labor, according to the University of California-Merced. Labor shortages could not only disrupt the agricultural supply chain, but could also lead to higher food prices and increased reliance on imports, experts warn.

Raids targeting farms come at a time when American farms are on the decline. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, there was a 7% decrease in farms from 2017 to 2022, about 142,000 fewer farms in a five-year period.

In January, Elizabeth Strater, national vice president and director of strategic campaigns for the United Farm Workers Foundation, the largest union representing America's farmworkers, said that "farm workers are enduring great anxiety after the chaotic immigration sweeps targeting farmworker communities earlier this month. They still have to provide for their families," adding that regardless of their legal status, "they all deserve better than to be profiled and terrorized for simply doing the work it takes to feed this country."

Originally published on Latin Times