Farmers in the United States raised concerns about looming food shortage should the President-elect Donald Trump, carryout his mass deportation threats.
Lifelong United States farmer Joe Del Bosque believes America cannot function without immigrants but worries about the prevailing sentiment that suggests otherwise.
“When they’re needed, they welcome them. When they don’t need them, they want to kick them out,” the 75-year-old farmer told AFP. “Well, right now the country doesn’t know that they do need some of these workers.”
Del Bosque, who cultivates cantaloupes and almonds in California, is among many farmers concerned about president-elect Donald Trump’s vow to deport millions of undocumented immigrants.
Economists warn that mass deportations could leave farmers like Del Bosque without enough workers to harvest crops, potentially causing food shortages and price hikes.
“He’s talked about deportations. We don’t know yet what that means,” Del Bosque said. “Does that mean everyone? We certainly hope that doesn’t mean he’s going to raid our farms because without our people, our farms will come to a stop.”
The worry extends beyond crop farming. Rick Naerebout, executive director of the Idaho Dairy Producers Association, foresees catastrophic consequences for the dairy industry if skilled laborers are abruptly removed.
“It would only take a couple days of disruption and not being able to feed or milk our cows to where you would damage our industry beyond repair,” Naerebout told AFP.
Approximately 2.4 million people work in agriculture across the United States, with 44% of them undocumented, according to a Department of Labor survey.
University of Michigan economist David Ortega highlighted that the system is deeply reliant on undocumented labor.
“These are individuals that perform essential, very labor-intensive tasks like planting and harvesting,” Ortega said. “Many of them fill critical roles that many US-born workers are either unable or unwilling to perform.”
Farm work often involves grueling conditions, from California’s scorching summer temperatures surpassing 40°C (104°F) to Idaho’s freezing winters. This reality contradicts claims by some politicians, including Trump, that immigrants are “stealing” American jobs.
Naerebout refuted this misconception, citing the struggles to fill agricultural positions with domestic workers.
“One contractor last year advertised to fill thousands of roles,” he said. “They had fewer than 30 domestic applications for 6,000 jobs. Only 12 of those individuals resulted in an interview, and only two resulted in a hire, and those two that got hired didn’t make it to harvest. Americans don’t want these jobs.”
Despite these facts, Trump’s campaign rhetoric painted immigrants as a threat, focusing on crime and overcrowding. This narrative resonated with many rural voters who cited immigration as a major reason for supporting him.
California dairy farmer Tom Barcellos, however, remains optimistic that practicality will override rhetoric once Trump takes office on January 20.
“I’ve been to (Washington) DC many times. I’ve been to (California state capital) Sacramento many times,” Barcellos said. “Those that have the power know we’re not going to go raid agriculture, because that’s the food source for the American people, and they don’t want to raise the cost any more than it needs to be.”
Naerebout expressed frustration over the lack of meaningful immigration reform, which he believes is stalled by political opportunism.
“We’ve been frustrated for, you know, 20 years trying to find a pathway forward to reforms at a national level, and both (Democrats and Republicans) are at fault,” he said. “We as an industry wonder if there’s lack of political will to solve the problem because the problem presents itself as a great political fundraiser and stump speech.”
Del Bosque hires around 200 workers during harvest season, a process he finds exasperating due to the bureaucratic hurdles faced by migrants attempting to work legally.
“A lot of our fresh fruits and vegetables need to be picked by hand,” he said. “If Americans value that kind of food in their diet—fresh fruits and vegetables—they need to consider that we have to have a reliable workforce to have a reliable food supply.”
As farmers like Del Bosque grapple with uncertainty, the fate of the agricultural industry—and the country’s food supply—hangs in the balance.
