If Trump's plans for mass deportations penetrate California’s heartland, it almost surely would decimate the workforce farmers rely on to plant and harvest their crops. So, why aren't farmers yelling in protest?

Summary

California farmers, many of whom supported Trump, face a potential crisis as his immigration policies threaten mass deportations of undocumented workers, who make up at least half of the state’s 162,000 farm labor force.

Deportations could devastate agriculture, leading to labor shortages, unharvested crops, and rising food prices.

Farmers hope for solutions such as workforce legalization or expanded H-2A guest worker programs, though these have been criticized for exploitation risks.

Historical parallels to programs like “Operation Wetback” and the bracero system highlight possible labor and human rights challenges ahead.

  • lohky@lemmy.world
    35·
    16 days ago

    Oh no, farmers lose the indentured servants they’ve been threatening with deportation for years!

    Fucking morons. Enjoy getting your hands dirty.

  • Crankenstein@lemmy.world
    981·
    17 days ago

    My Uncle is a close friend of Jeff Landry (R-Louisiana) and voted for Trump.

    Constantly would demonize illegal immigrants with all kinds of vitriolic accusations. Then would immediately brag that his hydro seeding company is making so much profit because he hires almost exclusively illegal immigrants and pays them peanuts under the table.

    I’ve reported him to the state numerous times but nothing ever gets done (remember who he is close friends with now…)

    I hope he goes out of business. I hope it ruins him.

  • taiyang@lemmy.world
    19·
    17 days ago

    Too bad it’s mostly the cities here declaring themselves as sanctuary cities for the undocumented. Weird that Latinos make up such a huge majority in the central valley, too, but haters gonna hate and boy does rural CA love to hate.

        • ProdigalFrog@slrpnk.netEnglish
          2·
          16 days ago

          According to this, urban farming seems surprisingly viable due to yields being so much higher than big ag farming. If we grew on rooftops and replaced parking lots with growing space, a city could theoretically become food self sufficient.

          • RagingRobot@lemmy.world
            1·
            14 days ago

            The parking lot idea is awesome! I have never thought of that. You can buy an old run down parking lot in a rough area for super cheap and turn that into an urban farm.

            I love that for you lol

          • enbyecho@lemmy.worldEnglish
            2·
            16 days ago

            Completely agree. It’s extremely viable and should be pursued more. There’s enough vacant land, especially city-owned land, for it to totally work. And you are right about yields, but with a caveat. The issue is the lack of people with the skills and experience in actual production farming - where high yields and high quality are the focus. What happens all to often is that people get enthusiastic, make a big investment, then there’s nobody to carry it through multiple years and through the inevitable trial and error that occurs in any new growing situation. It doesn’t help when people massively undervalue the skill required and essentially call farmers morons, as we’ve seen here. That means often (a) they are not willing to invest in people with the skills and pay them adequately; (b) they assume high production farming is easy and they can do it but then bail when the fail. I personally have been involved in or know of probably a dozen urban farming projects that have failed. It’s sad to see.

  • DarkFuture@lemmy.worldEnglish
    20·
    16 days ago

    Lol.

    Didn’t he have to bail farmers out last time due to his horrendous policies?

    And farmers didn’t learn?

    That’s pretty stupid? Is our food safe?

    • nova_ad_vitum@lemmy.ca
      18·
      16 days ago

      The bailouts ensured they didn’t have to learn. The only thing better than selling a product for money is selling less product for the same amount of money because the government subsidized you to offset their shitty policies.

    • invalid_name@lemm.eeEnglish
      41·
      15 days ago

      is our food safe

      Yes, as long as the water holds. I have 200 lbs of rice and veggies in every window. Should supplement me enough to survive. Might be enough to share out.

      Edit: oh shit, you meant supermarkets? Lol, no. That shit’s gonna rot I’m the fields, unless we use slave labor.

    • zabadoh@ani.social
      25·
      17 days ago

      Don’t forget they’re also criminal murderer drug dealers. They take all the jobs, and steal everything, sell everyone drugs, then kill them all, but they’re lazy about it. /s