Wednesday, June 18, 2025
Labor
Some Farms May Not Recover From ICE Raids, Says California Farmer
Joe Del Bosque, CEO of Del Bosque Farms in Firebaugh, Calif., spoke with Michelle Rook of AgriTalk Radio earlier today to discuss how the U.S. government’s immigration crackdown is impacting California farmers.
Joe Del Bosque, CEO of Del Bosque Farms in Firebaugh, Calif. — a producer of organic cantaloupe, organic watermelons, organic tomatoes, almonds and cherries — spoke with Michelle Rook of AgriTalk Radio earlier today to discuss how the U.S. government’s crackdown on immigration is impacting California farmers.
With some reports of produce farmers losing as much as half of their farm labor due to the immigration crackdown that has even documented workers, here in the U.S. legally, too fearful to come to work, AgriTalk asked Del Bosque what he’s seeing on the front lines of California farms.
“There‘s only been a few strikes by ICE out in agriculture that I’ve heard that are confirmed: one in Ventura County, which is down toward L.A., one in Kern County, and another up in Napa, but they have been really not huge sweeps,” he said. “They’re usually picking up a few people, but it creates a lot of fear and [then] people don’t show up to work, and [the impact of that] is as bad as if they were taken away.”
Fueling the fear and sense of uncertainty, the Trump administration has flip-flopped on whether farms and hotels should be included in ICE raids. On Monday, officials instructed ICE to resume raids on both sectors. What do farmworkers make of this back and forth?
“There’s so much uncertainty as to what the administration is going to do,” said Del Bosque. “One day they say they’re going to help the farmers, they’re going to do something for our workforce, and then the next day they come out and say, we’re going to deport them all. It obviously makes everybody nervous, farmworkers and farmers alike.”
“I think they need to hear something from the president that he is definitely going to help agriculture. He did say that several times,” he said. “And also that they can continue to work, get the crops in, get the food sent to market. I think it’s important that he reassures all of agriculture that we are going to be able to continue with our processing [and] getting food to everybody’s table.”
While some mistakenly think this is an issue involving workers in the U.S. illegally, the reality is that many of the farmworkers in question are here legally, and they’ve been here for a lot of years doing great work.
“A lot of our workforce have been with us for 10, 15, 20 years. They know the work. A lot of them have obtained their green card [and] that’s something that takes a long time to get,” said Del Bosque. “You don’t get that in a year or two. Some of our folks have been waiting for the green card for 15 years or more.”
What are the economic implications for farming operations that are grappling with these workforce reductions?
“California produces so much of the nation’s fresh fruits and vegetables that have to be picked by hand,” said Del Bosque. “It’s a large workforce. I can grow all of my crops with 12 to 14, employees, but when it’s time to harvest these cantaloupes, it takes me 150 more employees to get them picked up. And they need to know how to do this work. We’re fortunate that we have people that have been doing it for years and have that skill. And also … to be able to go out there and do this for eight, nine or 10 hours a day in 100-degree weather.”
Many are calling for immigration reform. What do you see as a solution?
“Back during Trump’s first term, there was a bill proposed — I believe it was by Sen. [Dianne] Feinstein. It was called the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, and it would address several things. One, it would address those people that have been working for us for years — working for us year in and year out — and get them permanent residency and authorization to work,” he said. “The other one is to have a more workable workforce for seasonal work — work on our crops, pick our crops for three or four months, or whatever it is that would allow them to come in and go back.”
Is there a political will to get this done?
“We’ve got to get both sides to the table,” he said. “One side is not going to do it, and so we’ve got to have both sides of the aisle working on this. And I think that we can do it. They need to recognize that we need these people for agriculture, and agriculture is important to feed the country.”
Del Bosque says if ICE raids continue the impact to the food system would be detrimental.
“We will lose crops [that] won’t get to market. Food prices will increase and some of the farms may not be able to recover,” he said. “Our system depends on being able to work every day through the season. This melon, I picked it today; if I don’t pick it by tomorrow, it’s gone.”
Source: The Packer
