Trump’s immigration crackdown has made many immigrant farm workers scared to go to work
Lisa Tate is a sixth-generation farmer in Ventura county, California, an area that produces billions of dollars worth of fruit and vegetables each year, much of it hand-picked by immigrants in the US illegally.
Tate knows the farms around her well. And she says she can see with her own eyes how raids carried out by agents from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) in the area’s fields earlier this month, part of Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, have frightened off workers.
“In the fields, I would say 70% of the workers are gone,” she said in an interview. “If 70% of your workforce doesn’t show up, 70% of your crop doesn’t get picked and can go bad in one day. Most Americans don’t want to do this work. Most farmers here are barely breaking even. I fear this has created a tipping point where many will go bust.“
“This is ICE! Round up all your undocumented day laborers”
“Sir, I’m too busy for that right now. If you and your men can help me pick all these tomatoes, I’ll have time to tell you where they’re all hiding.”
— 8 hours later —
“Thanks for helping get all the produce in. As you can see, we no longer have any undocumented day laborers, so now we depend on regular ICE raids to keep the farm going. Have a nice day!”
“They’re hiding the strawberries! Pick them all and you’ll find them!”
Oddly, in some videos where the masked ICE cowards are talking, they sound like Chicanos.
Hah, the reality is they would arrest them for harbouring illegals and beat the shit out of them until they got their answer.