This was one heck of a Father’s Day weekend – but it didn’t stop there. Last Thursday night President Trump supposedly put out guidance directing DHS to “pause” raids on agricultural worksites and we were skeptical. Why? Because starting Friday before dawn we had kids calling us as they tracked their dads to detention facilities with air tags. Locals tell us agents were circling like sharks. That sure didn’t sound like the raids had stopped to us. And we were right.
Just last night the DHS told its staff it was reversing last week’s supposed guidance exempting farms and hotels from immigration raids and agents must continue conducting raids at agricultural businesses. Whatever Trump’s decision of the day is: farm workers are in danger.
Immigration agents’ willingness to go into a farm worker community and terrorize everyone present – including US citizens and legal residents – is alarming. The hard-working people whose hands harvest the food we eat are essential. Without them, we don’t eat.
We’re proactively reaching out to employers with information on how to protect their employees at their worksites and legally limit access by immigration agents. Instead of viewing us as an adversary, we’re hearing from agricultural employers seeking our advice and resources on how to protect their operation.
Farm workers can’t be left to the whims of Donald Trump and whoever spoke to him last. That’s why they need all of us to get behind them and help them fight back. Our organizers are out in the fields talking to workers, holding meetings, sharing information on social media and our texting program, talking with elected officials, filing lawsuits and taking every action we can to protect workers.
This is an evolving situation. We will get back to you as things change.