Senator Dick Durbin’s assertion highlights a critical vulnerability: “40% of the farm workers in this country are undocumented.” This statistic underscores the looming threat that increased ICE enforcement poses to the agricultural sector.
While ICE is focused on deporting illegal immigrants with criminal records, the ripple effects on farming are inevitable. Immigration attorney Ester Valdez recently advised her clients on Fox News to consider the harsh realities of ICE’s actions: “They need to establish who’s going to stay with the house, or they also have to choose if they are going to separate their family, or take their family with them.” This advice reflects the personal and professional turmoil that farm owners and workers alike are facing.
The reliance on undocumented labor is not just a labor issue; it’s a matter of legal and ethical accountability. Farmers who have long sidestepped immigration and employment laws to maintain their operations are now facing the consequences of their actions.
