6d ago

Farm workers ditch work in fear of ICE raids as food prices set to soar

www.the-express.com Farm workers ditch work in fear of ICE raids as food prices set to soar

Scores of immigrant farm workers in the U.S. are avoiding work after President Trump removed "sensitive area" protections amid his immigration crackdown.

Around 75% of immigrant farm workers in Bakersfield, California, ditched their shifts after Trump ramped up his threats by removing protections against ICE raids in "sensitive areas," including schools and workplaces.

United States | News & Politics @lemmy.ml

return2ozma @lemmy.world

6d ago

Farm workers ditch work in fear of ICE raids as food prices set to soar

www.the-express.com /news/us-news/161317/farm-workers-ice-raids-food-prices

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Let the farms try to hire us citizens for this work. No one will take jobs that pay dollars per hour with no benefits. Let the farms raise salaries and charge Americans triple for produce. Let Americans bitch.... Then watch Trump and GOP blame the liberals for it.
- Oh they can still use inmigrants, they just have to get them into private prison work programs first.
  
  Ahh, yes ~~indentured slavery~~ private prison work programs a classic move.
  
  Calling it indentured slavery implies they may be able to earn their freedom.
  
  They could hang up a sign "work will set you free"
- Then watch Trump and GOP blame the liberals for it.
  ... and more than half of Americans will agree with that conclusion.
- How about if you are hiring undocumented immigrants for this work, let's not arrest the immigrants, let's arrest the owners of the farm.
  Then we'll sell the farm off to someone who is willing to pay a living wage to people, and not slaves with no other options.
  
  Or just give the farm to the workers and have them run it as a coop.
  
  If socialist-welfare-handout farming subsidies were paid it be great if they were forced to be returned by people that employed those not legal to work in the us as well. Misusing government funds and all that jazz.
  Naturally this will never happen but it'd be a good idea lol
  
  most farms cant turn a profit that way unless they make some more bs being subsidized like corn, we need less corn
- Howdy, a reminder that we live in a market economy. What will happen is that if no one shows up for work at the wage offered to illegal workers, gradually, the rates offered will increase until someone shows. You'll notice America has no shortage of other classes of workers, such as sewer maintenance engineer or garbage collector. The reason is those jobs were never held by illegal workers. Will produce be as cheap as it was before? No, but then again it should not be a fundamental part of our economy to employ illegal workers. Either reform immigration law to allow for migrant workers or get rid of them. This weird middle-ground where we tolerate illegal employment in exchange for subsidized prices for produce is ridiculous. If we wouldn't have allowed this in the first place, the problem would not be so hard to solve today.
  
  There are lots of legal migrant workers. One of the many problems with these mass deportations is that even legal immigrants, maybe even citizens, have to be afraid to show up.
  The question is what percentage of these workers are undocumented? I don’t recall reading any actual numbers.
  And to spread the icing on this shit-cake, I do remember reading months ago the claim that most illegals are people overstaying a work or student visa. Are we demonizing these people for nothing?
  
  The question is what percentage of these workers are undocumented?
  That's covered in the article:
  The USDA estimated that between 2020-2022 about 32% of crop farmworkers were U.S. born, 7% were immigrants who had obtained citizenship, 19% were authorized immigrants, mostly permanent residents or green-card holders and the remaining 42% were unauthorized to work. The majority of these workers have Latino backgrounds.
  
  Apparently I replied before finishing reading - gotta leave that redditism behind ….
  So yeah, an estimated 42%, which is significant. However 75% didn’t show for work because of fear. How can they not recognize themselves as the bigger problem?
  
  Not sure what you mean, who do you mean by "they" and bigger problem?
  
  They == people starting ICE raids. Bigger problem == disrupt the economy + terrorize 33% of the workforce who are legally working
  
  Thanks for clarifying. I'm not sure they care too much about its effect on the economy, but terrorizing them, even the legally working, is definitely intentional and part of their strategy. They've openly talked about wanting to intimidate people into "self-deporting".
  
  I think most people agree with you, and I don’t really think anyone would say that hiring illegal workers to lower prices and pay them lower wages is a solution.
  People are upset not because they can’t exploit illegal immigrants anymore, but because the solution should’ve been to provide the working immigrants with worker protections and easier paths to citizenship (which you suggested something similar). Instead they’re attempting to suddenly and forcefully deport all of them.
  
  I've been in discussions about this news for quite a bit and it absolutely shocks me how many people are totally OK with the status quo, as long as they get cheap food.
  
  That was fast! You people are already blaming someone else for this shitshow.
- I'm sure they will blame the libs and the Democrats for it because they are the ones pushing for a bigger minimum wage. Without it, employer's can collude to drive down wages, making higher paying alternative jobs non existent. Everything pays pennies!
- A fundamental part of our economy/way of life should not be dependent on near slave labor
  
  I agree, but "ship'em all back" is still idiotic shortsighted policy.
  
  Yep, I think they should have worker protections like everybody else! They work hard, they suffered just to be here, overall they make the country a better place. There is no reason to send them back (except racism)
- Our farming system needs an overhaul, but I agree that this isn't the way to make that happen. But I am hoping this bullshit will force us to take a closer look at how we produce and approach it in a more sustainable fashion.
- What would they pay if not dollars per hour? Cats per hour?
  
  He probably means they pay single-digit dollars per hour, as opposed to tens of dollars per hour.
  But they also could be paying per amount of crop harvested (per bushel or per pound), I think.
  
  Ya this work is often by weight to encourage efficient picking.
- Sounds like you're very familiar with how things work over here :(

102 comments