With the president-elect already having chosen immigration hardliner Thomas Homan as his “border czar” who has indicated he will start round-ups on “Day One,” Politico is reporting, “California’s agricultural barons, who employ the most farm workers of any state in the nation and grow half the produce consumed in the United States, [are] nervously parsing Trump’s rhetoric.”
According to Chris Reardon of the industry group California Farm Bureau Federation, “To say it would have an impact on California would be an understatement,” with Reardon admitting he is telling anxious farmers. “We just don’t know yet” when they ask what is going to happen.
Politico’s Camille von Kaenel reported, “During his first term, Trump also said he wouldn’t go after workers in the food sector. But his administration still conducted raids at Mississippi poultry plants and Nebraska produce processing facilities, arresting hundreds of workers. The extent of Trump 2.0’s deportations efforts will determine how much California’s farmers could potentially sacrifice their water access to sway his immigration policies.”