Farmworkers and growers in the Central Valley and California fear that former President Donald J. Trump’s aggressive plans for mass deportations and immigration suppression would change lives and destabilize the region’s agricultural economy.
The uncertainty surrounding the Valley’s undocumented immigrant community ahead of Tuesday’s election is similar to the fear many of them felt when Trump won the 2016 election. This time, however, the former president says he plans to “launch the largest deportation program in American history.”
Trump has said he plans to invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, last used during World War II, to target criminals in the country illegally if elected. He would also try to expand a removal process that doesn’t require hearings, build massive camps to hold people awaiting deportation and end birthright citizenship, the New York Times reported.
Nearly 1 in 3 Latinos are undocumented or live in a mixed-status household with undocumented Hispanic individuals and are at risk of deportation or separation, according to FWD.us, a bipartisan political organization.
Trump’s mass deportation plans would likely have a significant impact in California, one of the states with the largest number of individuals living in mixed-status or undocumented households.
Nearly 4 million Latinos in the state would be affected by Trump’s mass deportation plan, according to FWD.us.
Trump’s proposals would likely face legal, financial and political challenges. The American Immigration Council, for example, estimates that the cost of a one-time mass deportation operation is at least $315 billion, an estimate the council described as “very conservative.”
Mike Madrid, a Latino GOP political consultant and co-founder of the Lincoln Project, said voters should not ignore Trump’s comments about the mass deportations and should take his plans seriously.
“The question is not whether they can deport everyone at once, but whether they will create a culture in which they constantly look for and deport those who are here without papers. That is the big problem,” said Madrid.
Madrid said mass deportations would not only disrupt the economy but also take a devastating toll on families and individuals.
“As Americans, we don’t like to be honest about this, but the entire economy is based on undocumented labor. Without undocumented labor, the economy does not function. That’s just the reality,” Madrid said.
Worries in the fields
Talk of mass deportation has spread unrest across the fields of the Central Valley, where the majority of farmworkers are undocumented.
Sandra Garcia, a Central Valley resident who has worked in the fields for more than four decades and is president and founder of Campesinas Unidas del Valle de San Joaquin, said Trump’s campaign promises “cause us a lot of concern.”
Garcia worries about the Valley’s undocumented farmworkers, including her sister, if Trump wins and makes good on his promise.
Garcia said her sister has worked in the field for many years and was finally able to obtain a work permit through the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which provides victims of domestic violence with a special path to legal immigration status.
“There are many people like my sister who are getting their documents in order, others already have their permits, their children also have DACA, but the majority of farmworkers do not have documents,” Garcia said in Spanish.
Garcia said that if Trump’s mass deportation proposals come to fruition, “it will impact not only the farmworkers who are undocumented, but also the farms, which will be left without workers.”
That potential reality weighs heavily on the mind of commercial grower Joe Del Bosque, who is particularly concerned about the impact mass deportations would have on Valley growers of hand-picked crops like melons, cherries and tomatoes.
“I don’t know if he (Trump) understands that a mass deportation could involve many of our farmworkers who are essential to our food chain,” said Del Bosque, owner of the Empresas Del Bosque farm in western Fresno County, near Firebaugh. “Farm workers are among the least understood people among our politicians.”
Del Bosque, who considers himself politically centrist, says growers should publicly express their concerns about the mass deportations.
“Without these people, we cannot plant and harvest crops like melons, cherries and tomatoes,” Del Bosque said.
Del Bosque is no stranger to advocating for immigration reform. He said he worked on the stalled bipartisan Farm Workforce Modernization Act bill in 2019, which aimed to provide farmworkers with a path to immigration status.
Del Bosque has also seen the impact of previous deportations. He recalled that it took farmers months to recover from labor shortages after a wave of deportations during the Obama administration.
“We need to have a stable workforce,” Del Bosque said.
Concerns in California
Political leaders and immigration advocates vow to fight mass deportations if Trump wins a second term.
Manuel Cunha, president of the Fresno-based Nisei Farmers League, said he plans to “fight Trump for the better when he does it against the working people who have been here for years.” Cunha has a long history of lobbying for farmers and advocating for immigration reform.
“I will fight and do whatever we have to do to protect these workers, and if that means a massive food strike in this country and a shutdown by the farmers, the shipping companies, the trucking industry, to show that we are not going to no longer accept this, then that’s it,” Cunha said.
According to California Budget & Policy Center, a nonprofit research and analysis organization, undocumented Californians contribute nearly $8.5 billion annually in taxes and play a critical role in supporting public services in state and local communities.
U.S. Senator Alex Padilla condemned Trump’s attacks on the Latino community and his renewed pledge to separate millions of undocumented immigrants and mixed-status families.
“As the son of immigrants, I know what it means to build a life, a family and a future here in America,” Padilla said in an Oct. 29 press call. “Right now, twenty million Latino families and millions more friends, neighbors and coworkers face the devastating threat of forcible separation. “Trump’s plan to tear apart the lives, families and communities that have been rooted here for decades will devastate our country and our economy.”
U.S. Congressman John Duarte, R-Modesto, recently introduced the Border Security and Immigration Reform Act, legislation that would provide a path to legal status for certain undocumented immigrants and calls for strengthening the border with Mexico.
When asked how Trump’s mass deportation plans would affect the Central Valley if Trump wins, Duarte said the bill he introduced would “provide protection for thousands of hardworking families who follow the law, pay taxes and work hard to achieve the American Dream.” achieve.”
“It would protect those who have been in the country for more than five years from deportation and create a flexible guest worker program that more recent immigrants can participate in,” Duarte said in an email.
Janet Murguía, president of the nonprofit UnidosUS Action Fund, said Trump’s proposed expansion of his 2018 “zero tolerance” policy would “devastate the economy and make every American less and less safe.”
“We must choose policies that are firm, fair and free from cruelty and reject extremist, divisive, destructive and draconian plans like Zero Tolerance,” Murguia said.
Garcia, a longtime farmworker, said that while there is much concern among farmworkers about Trump’s mass deportation threats, many older farmworkers with legal status support Trump.
Still, Garcia takes Trump’s campaign promises seriously and fears that a second term would usher in a huge cloud of uncertainty for the state’s millions of undocumented immigrants and their families.
“People are concerned because they don’t know how Trump’s words will affect them,” Garcia said. “They don’t know what to do and they think: ‘What could happen? Are they going to send me and my kids to Mexico? The children have lived here all their lives.’”
