SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — Migrant advocates in Southern California have announced a pending two-day strike by field workers as a way to protest ongoing immigration raids at fields and farms across the state.
Organizers say the workers will stop working on consecutive days in the near future to show their displeasure and concerns with the raids.
Just a few days ago, hundreds of workers were arrested as Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers stormed several fields in Camarillo, California, just north of Los Angeles.
ICE also raided a marijuana growing operation where one migrant died after falling off a roof while trying to evade arrest.
“This strike is not just for us, it’s for the soul of this country,” said Flor Martinez, who organized a rally in downtown Los Angeles on Monday afternoon calling for the farm labor work stoppage.
She said this is one way for migrant workers to make a point considering 80 percent of all fruits and nuts grown in the U.S. come from California, along with 60 percent of all vegetables and 90 percent of grapes harvested for the wine industry.
“Who feeds your children? Will you stand with the people behind your food? Because a nation that eats from exploited hands is a nation in crisis,” Martinez said.
Other speakers said the raids have made it even more dangerous for workers to toil in the fields.
“Now it’s not just unsafe with the conditions they have to go through to pick the fruits and vegetable in the fields, now they have to have fear over their heads every day, whether for them or a loved one or someone they’re working with right next to them,” another speaker said.
The strike has been scheduled for the end of this week.
The public is being asked to participate by boycotting fruits, vegetables, produce, meat and poultry products during the planned work stoppage.
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