Farmers fear workforce shortages over immigration policies

In California, there are multiple farms that grow, among other things, almonds, grapes, and pistachios. Producing this type of food requires at least 20 farm workers, who can plant, care for, cultivate and harvest the food that will then reach the tables of American families.

Farms normally look for private contractors to recruit farm workers, most of whom are foreigners. Therefore, they are not always clear whether they have legal documentation or not.

Over the past few weeks, several California farmers have openly expressed concern regarding Trump’s immigration policies and the abrupt closing of borders between the US and Mexico.

They state that this could represent a devastating workforce shortage, which would only end up affecting the American population and families who buy food in local markets.

In fact, one of them stated: “A shortage of workers can put someone out of business real fast if you don’t have the people to do the job.”

Adding to that, they declare that if the agricultural sector runs out of foreign labor, prices would also rise and that would worsen the current economic situation of the US, which has been going through a crisis since the arrival of the global Coronavirus pandemic.

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Trump’s immigration policies

Since the massive outbreak of COVID-19 in the in the North American territory, the Trump administration has implemented multiple emergency measures that directly affect the immigration sector.

For instance, in late June, President Trump declared that the issuance of most work visas would be suspended until 2021 (currently, several restrictions have been lifted). This measure did not include visas related to the US’ food supply chain.

However, despite the Trump administration not restricting permits for agricultural workers, the fact that the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) closed its offices for more than two months and the massive Coronavirus outbreak delayed processes for farm workers.

In addition to that, several outbreaks of Coronavirus have been reported among foreign agricultural workers, who say they do not always have the necessary supplies to protect their health. That is why many of them fear deportation if they cannot fulfill their duties.

On the other hand, the US Department of Agriculture estimates that approximately half of farm workers are undocumented foreigners. In fact, one of the California farmers states that “If you just rely on the legal immigration system there isn’t enough employees coming to replenish the migrant labor, who are here now and working now.”

Therefore, they argue that the government should propose viable alternatives for foreign agricultural workers to obtain a legal permit in less time or allow them to work temporarily in order to supply demands of the local market. Otherwise, if the Trump administration continues to increase restrictions, American families will suffer the consequences.

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