Ventura, Calif. (AP) — Large-scale immigration raids at packinghouses and fields in California are causing significant disruptions to businesses that play a crucial role in supplying much of the country’s food.
Recent actions by uniformed federal agents, who have conducted raids on farms in Ventura County, known for its production of strawberries, lemons, and avocados, have resulted in the arrest of dozens of farmworkers.
As fear spreads throughout immigrant communities, many workers are choosing to skip work, exacerbating the labor shortages that California farmers rely on. This climate of fear has intensified since President Donald Trump announced plans to ramp up immigration enforcement, leading to increased arrests in various locations, including Home Depot parking lots and workplaces.
Maureen McGuire, chief executive of Ventura County’s farm bureau, stated that an alarming 25% to 45% of farmworkers have stopped showing up for work since the beginning of the raids.
“When our workforce is afraid, fields go unharvested, packinghouses fall behind, and market supply chains, from local grocery stores to national retailers, are affected,” she said. “This impacts every American who eats.”
California is a major player in American agriculture, with its farms producing over one-third of the nation’s vegetables and more than three-quarters of its fruits and nuts.
Despite the state’s predominantly Democratic governance, many Republican areas exist within farm country, where growers have historically relied on Trump to advocate for key agricultural issues, including water resources and trade policies.
Primitiva Hernandez, executive director of 805 UndocuFund, reported that at least 43 individuals were detained in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties since the initiation of the raids.
This figure comes from combined estimates from the Mexican consulate and conversations with the families of those detained.
Elizabeth Strater, director of strategic campaigns for the United Farm Workers, confirmed that reports of immigration arrests have emerged from as far north as California’s Central Valley.
Furthermore, Lucas Zucker, co-executive director of the Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy, mentioned that farmworker members have reported immigration agents attempting to access at least nine farms, but were turned away by supervisors lacking the necessary warrants.
“This is just a mass assault on a working-class immigrant community, and essentially profiling,” Zucker remarked. “They are not going after specific people who are really targeted. They’re just fishing.”
In response to inquiries about the immigration arrests within the agricultural sector, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated that the agency would continue to follow the president’s directive to remove immigrants who have committed crimes.
During a recent statement, President Trump acknowledged the concerns of farmers regarding the impact of increased immigration enforcement on their ability to sustain their operations.
He indicated that steps would be taken to address these issues, although he did not provide any specific details.
“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 wrote on his social media account.
He added: “We must protect our Farmers, but get the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA. Changes are coming!”
The California Farm Bureau, while not reporting widespread disruptions within its workforce, recognizes the growing concerns within the agricultural community.
Bryan Little, the bureau’s senior director of policy advocacy, emphasized the organization’s long-standing calls for immigration reform to address ongoing labor shortages.
“We recognize that some workers may feel uncertain right now, and we want to be very clear: California agriculture depends on and values its workforce,” Little stated.
He warned that if federal immigration enforcement activities continue in this manner, it would become increasingly difficult to grow food, process it, and distribute it to grocery store shelves.
One farmworker, who asked to remain anonymous due to his fears, described a distressing incident while picking strawberries at a farm in Ventura County.
He witnessed federal agents arrest at least three individuals from a nearby farm, prompting emotional reactions from the women working alongside him.
The worker voiced his concern over the potential repercussions of the raids on his family, saying, “The first thing that came to my mind is, who will stay with my kids?”
Originally from Mexico and having lived in the U.S. for two decades, he opted not to return to work the following day due to fear, with his employers recommending he stay home until the situation calms down.
This decision, however, means that berries are left unpicked, resulting in lost income for him.
“These are lost days, days that we’re missing work. But what else can we do?” he lamented.
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