Fearful migrant laborers in America find themselves trapped between the necessity of earning a living and the risks of workplace exposure.
In the early hours of Tuesday, immigration enforcement agents swooped down on farmworkers in Oxnard, California, chasing them through fields and tackling them among rows of produce. KABC, our company affiliate, captured the scene on video. A farmworker, hidden behind a mask, shared her concerns, telling KABC in Spanish, "What I fear is that sometimes, out of necessity, we show up wherever there's work. With everything that's happening, it's a bit tricky for us."
ICE, striving to fulfill President Donald Trump's goal of boosting deportations, has escalated targeted workplace raids in recent weeks. This action has created unease among businesses that rely on immigrant labor and the workers themselves. Some are staying home due to fear, which could have dire consequences for America's agriculture, construction, healthcare, and hospitality industries, all of which depend heavily on immigrant workers, both legal and undocumented.
Rebecca Shi, CEO of American Business Immigration Coalition, stated, "Recent immigration enforcement raids on businesses nationwide are causing real problems for local economies, communities, and industries that rely on immigrant labor to operate and thrive."
Goldman Sachs reveals that undocumented immigrants account for 4% to 5% of the total US workforce, but 15% to 20% or more in specific industries such as crop production, food processing, and construction. United Farm Workers President Teresa Romero has fielded calls from anxious farmworkers in California about escalating ICE crackdowns in the state. According to the Economic Policy Institute, there are 2.4 million farmworkers in the US, with 40% of them lacking legal status.
Despite the fear of deportation, undocumented workers often find themselves unable to afford to stay away from work. As Romero puts it, "They're terrified, but they have a family to support. They have a rent to pay, they have children to take to school, buy clothing, and everything. They have to tell their children what to do if they don't come home."
Trump seemed to acknowledge the strain his immigration policies were causing on farmers and businesses on Thursday. "Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long-time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace," Trump said on Truth Social. "We must protect our Farmers, but get the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA. Changes are coming!"
However, farm owners worry that the Trump administration's crackdown on undocumented immigrants could strain the US's food production capabilities. Romero warns, "I can guarantee you that we're not going to have the workers that we need to do this work in agriculture. The agriculture industry in this country is going to disappear."
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has reported receiving reports of people refusing to work and empty shelves in stores due to fear of being detained by ICE. She stresses that Los Angeles' immigrant community is crucial to the city's economy. "There are entire sectors of our economy that will not function if the immigrant community is too afraid to go to work and too afraid to go to school," Bass said.
The practice of mass workplace immigration raids was a priority during Trump's first term, leading to around 680 arrests during a 2019 raid on chicken processing plants in Mississippi. The Biden administration had ceased this practice, arguing that employers exploited the raids to suppress workers from reporting labor violations. Yet, ICE has amplified sweeps in recent weeks on industries that heavily rely on immigrant labor, impacting industries nationwide.
- The escalation of targeted workplace raids by ICE, as seen in the agriculture industry in Oxnard, California, has caused concern among various sectors, such as health and wellness, business, and politics, due to the reliance on immigrant labor.
- The finance industry has also taken notice of this issue, with Goldman Sachs revealing that undocumented immigrants account for a significant percentage of the workforce in specific industries like crop production, food processing, and construction.
- General news outlets and industry leaders, such as Rebecca Shi of the American Business Immigration Coalition and Teresa Romero of United Farm Workers, have expressed concerns about the impact of these raids on local economies, communities, and industries.
- Crime and justice issues are also at play, as the ongoing crackdown on undocumented immigrants could lead to an increase in crime due to the fear-induced absence of workers from their jobs and a potential disappearance of entire sectors of the economy, as warned by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
