Immigration enforcement and the future of California farming

This story originally aired on “Marketplace” on July 2. Listen to the “Marketplace” each weekday at 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. on LAist 89.3.

California’s agricultural industry is absolutely massive. The state grows about a third of the country’s vegetables, three-quarters of its fruits and nuts, and employs nearly 900,000 farmworkers each year.

The mood among those farmworkers these days? Fearful.

Early last month, federal immigration authorities detained dozens of farmworkers on or near farmland in Southern California. President Donald Trump has recently walked backthe idea of continuing immigration actions on farms.

But that fear remains.

Ever since those June immigration raids came very close to where she worked, strawberry picker Itzel and her three daughters have tried to avoid leaving their home. She lives just north of Los Angeles.

Itzel isn’t her real name. We’re using a pseudonym because she fears being deported — she didn’t come to the U.S. legally.

“I am afraid to go out,” she said. “I haven't gone to do laundry for two weeks now. I haven't gone to bring lunch for my girls. I have had to cancel appointments.”

Itzel has lived in California for almost 20 years. Her daughters are citizens, and she has a temporary work permit. But she fears being detained and possibly removed from the country.

She skipped work at a local berry farm right after the raids, but just for a couple of days. As a single mother, she said she’s had no choice but to report back to the farm — she needs the money.

Many of her coworkers, however, aren’t taking that risk.

”Well, almost half of the people — let's say 20 were working in total — and just one day, only eight of us showed up,” said Itzel. “A lot of them have completely stopped going to work. They are no longer working.”

According to government surveys, 51% of California crop workers self-identify as undocumented. Experts say the real percentage is likely significantly higher.

And like Itzel, most have lived in the U.S. for a while.

”We're not getting an influx of new young workers. So what's really happening is most of our workforce has been here for a long time,” said Ali Hill, an agricultural economist at UC Berkeley.

Most California farmworkers make minimum wage — $16.50 an hour. The H-2A guest worker visa program requires employers to pay nearly $20 an hour.

“Then, you also need to take into account that employers have to pay for H-2A worker housing, all of their food, all of their transportation costs from their home country,” Hill said.

Many California farmers are instead exploring labor-automating machinery or considering switching to labor-saving crops, like tree nuts or corn, Hill said. That means that, soon, you may see less labor-intensive California crops like strawberries and tomatoes in the grocery store.

Somewhat ironically, Mexico may actually be the biggest beneficiary of any agricultural immigration crackdown. Mexican farms already supply 70% of the vegetables and 50% of the fresh fruit imported to the U.S. and grow many of the same crops as California.

California farmers say paying higher wages to attract U.S. citizens to farmworking jobs simply isn’t realistic in a global economy.

”If I pay people more, if I even could raise the price of my tomatoes, there would be big companies in this country that would look overseas to get their products,” said a northern California farmer who requested anonymity out of fear of Trump administration reprisals. “I mean it’s happening already.”

He says of the 40 or so farmworkers he employs, he thinks about five or six are probably undocumented. They help cultivate his almonds, rice, sunflowers, and tomatoes.

”I have a whole bunch of really intelligent, hard-working people working here on this farm that that, you know, I'm proud to have them,” he said. “And I know them, know their families, for a long time.”