DONNA, Texas (KVEO) – Farmers in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley say they are feeling the effects of workers failing to show up due to the continued U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids.
Farmer Nick Billman of Donna told Nexstar’s KVEO that the raids are keeping employees from coming to work, leaving farmers without any help. He said things started getting worse just weeks ago.
“I would say within the last three weeks, it started to slow, but this last week has been huge,” Billman said. “That is when it has been zero people wanting to come out and be exposed, to be able to be picked up, whether they are legal or illegal.”
However, there is some optimism as President Donald Trump acknowledged that his immigration policies are affecting U.S. farmers, prompting him to say he’s considering an executive order to help farmers stay afloat. Last week, the Trump administration directed immigration officers to pause arrests at farms, restaurants, and hotels, an official confirmed.
This, as Billman reported having zero workers on his farm for the past week.
“One hundred percent. One hundred percent don’t want to come out of fear of being picked up even if they are doing it the right way,” Billman said.
Billman was left alone, cleaning up debris from a storm that moved through on Thursday. While storm debris cleanup is easy, Billman told KVEO that he believes the country’s food supply could be impacted if the pressure on farms continues.
“It could be to the point where we lose our planting and having the ground ready, and even then, why plan if we cannot even harvest?” the farmer said. “My family and I can harvest by hand ourselves, but the amount we need in order to cover that cost of growing, we have to have much broader personnel than just family hands-on.”
Farm bureaus in California have shared similar sentiments, saying raids at packing houses and fields in their state are threatening businesses that supply much of the country’s food.
Billman explained that migrants help maintain and prepare the land for planting, taking on some of the heaviest work. ICE raids have farmers like him worried, as well, because they do not want to get into trouble because of who they hire.
“We don’t ask people for papers, as it is not our job,” Billman said. “If someone is willing to work, we’re gonna give them a 1098 form, they signed up on it, they get paid, and whether they pay their taxes, that is their responsibility. We are worried that we are going to face scrutiny over it if they come raid our fields, as we don’t know who’s legal or not because we don’t ask that.”
Billman and others have said reform is the best solution to protect the country’s food supply.
The Texas Farm Bureau also released a statement on the matter, saying, “Farm employees work hard every day to help produce healthy, American-grown food. An adequate workforce in U.S. Agriculture is a continual challenge that must be addressed and resolved. … We look forward to working with the Trump Administration and Congress on solutions that provide a legal and stable workforce.”
Billman said Washington politicians are welcome to visit his ranch to see the realities he’s facing without this vital workforce, and he hopes a solution is offered soon.
“Instead of this chase, let’s give incentives for these people that are immigrating to our country, like the Bracero Program,” Billman said.
From the early 1940s through the mid-1960s, the federally sponsored Bracero Program was started to address a U.S. labor shortage brought on by World War II, according to the National Archives. It offered short-term contracts to migrants to come to the U.S. from Mexico to work seasonally and send remittances back home to their families. After the end of World War II, the program limited laborers to agricultural work.
It’s estimated that more than 4.5 million laborers — or braceros, Spanish for “arm man” — came into the U.S. during the program’s 22 years. The Texas State Historical Association says most never returned to Mexico, with some having received legal status or amnesty through the Immigration Reform Control Act of 1986.
“Incentives for these immigrants to come through, pay their taxes, and everybody is safe, vetted, and it would work much better that way,” Billman said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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