ICE operations on farms have resulted in significant crop losses in major agricultural states across the country due to a labor shortage, according to Newsweek.
Up to 70 percent of farm workers have stopped reporting to work due to ICE raids resulting in crops sitting in the fields rotting, farm owners and industry representatives told the outlet.
“We do not have enough workforce in the United States to do manual work, to do those jobs that other people are not qualified to do and do not want to do it,” Alexandra Sossa, CEO of Farmworker and Landscaper Advocacy Project said. “For example, we are running into a problem where we do not have enough farm workers to grow the food we eat every day.
“Now we do not have enough workers to go to the meatpacking processing industries and factories to produce, to pack the food that we are eating,” she added.
Among the states hardest hit are Texas and California which rely heavily on migrant labor.
In the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, entire farms are being left empty for days as up to 75% of workers did not show up. In California, which produces three-quarters of the country’s fruits and nuts, farmers say they experienced widespread crop loss and food waste due to increased ICE activity in the state this month.
This comes amid mixed messaging from the White House about ICE operations on farms.
Weeks ago Trump claimed that ICE raids had been paused on farms. The administration walked that back days later and Trump has claimed he was looking at a solution for farm workers.
In an interview with Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures, Trump said his administration is currently working on developing a temporary pass for immigrants who work in certain industries.
“We’re going to work it so that some kind of a temporary pass where people pay taxes, where the farmer can have a little control, as opposed to you walk in and take everybody away,” he said.
“What we’re going to do is we’re going to do something for farmers, where we can let the farmer sort of be in charge. The farmer knows. He’s not going to hire a murderer,” Trump said. “When you go into a farm and he’s had somebody working with him for nine years doing this kind of work, which is hard work to do, and a lot of people aren’t going to do it, and you end up destroying a farmer because you took all the people away, it’s a problem.”
In a statement to NBC News a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said otherwise.
“The President has been incredibly clear. There will be no safe spaces for industries who harbor violent criminals or purposely try to undermine ICE’s efforts,” the statement read.
“Worksite enforcement remains a cornerstone of our efforts to safeguard public safety, national security and economic stability,” it continued. “These operations target illegal employment networks that undermine American workers, destabilize labor markets and expose critical infrastructure to exploitation.”
As Trump works on his solution, ICE continues to carry out operations on work sites, including farms.
“Clearly, farmers who depend on undocumented labor (which is most of them) are suffering and losing money. The harmful consequences to the economy and food supply is obvious,” Frank Knapp, managing director of the Secure Growth Initiative, told Newsweek.
“No business should be given such life and death control over its employees,” Knapp continued. “Plus, there should be no ‘favored’ industry regarding immigration enforcement. All small business owners suffer financially when their employees are taken or too scared to come to work. They all suffer financially when immigrants stop spending money in their local communities.”
Officials warn that if the labor shortage continues it could affect the food supply chain, increase prices for consumers and force farms to shut down.
