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.“
Isnt this what a national guard should be used for. They should be protecting California crops from Ice. Our country will loss so much in produce because of these ice raids that will ruin billions of dollars of food.
Initially I thought you meant the National Guard should be planting/picking crops…
No, that’s the National Gardeners.
So the national guard should be used to make sure farmers get to keep their slave labor?
ICE shouldn’t be doing what they’re doing, but if farmers paid their workers a living wage this wouldn’t be an issue.
The National Guard should be out picking the crops, defending the nation’s food supply.
I can definitely agree there
if only ICE forced the owners to pay a fair wage, “wait no thats communism!” better arrest the workers instead its easier