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4w ago

California Farms Lose 70% of Workforce as ICE Raids Continue

Federal raids driven by heightened arrest quotas have emptied California fields of labor, stalling billions of dollars in harvest

Immigrant workers harvest crops during the weekend, as labor shortages risk leaving fields unpicked, in Oxnard, California, U.S., June 22, 2025. REUTERS/Pilar Olivares
On May Day farm workers march to a Hannaford supermarket to protest the supermarket chain's refusal to purchase milk from dairy suppliers who have committed to a set of fair labor practices, May 1, 2022, in Burlington, Vermont.
A Guatemalan immigrant works on a crop field at a farm in Kern County, California, U.S., June 19, 2025. REUTERS/Pilar Olivares

Overview

  • Federal ICE operations under a presidential directive have led roughly 70% of migrant farmworkers to stay away from Ventura County and Central Valley fields
  • Supervisors report typical crews shrinking from hundreds of pickers to fewer than 20, causing fruits and vegetables to rot within days of peak ripeness
  • Immigrant laborers make up about 80% of U.S. farmworkers, with nearly half undocumented, and domestic workers are not filling the vacancies
  • President Trump acknowledged that the raids are removing long-standing workers and pledged an executive order to help farms but has yet to enact any policy changes
  • Farmworker groups say many return out of economic necessity, yet fear of ICE detentions remains widespread among both undocumented and documented workers