How Are ICE Crackdowns Impacting NW Ag?

As growers across the Northwest prepare for the 2025 season, questions regarding immigration crackdowns linger.  Enrique Gastelum, Executive Director of WAFLA said while there have not been workplace targeted raids, that doesn't mean farm workers aren’t worried.  And when farm workers get worried, that can have a detrimental impact on an operation.

“In a month or two we got spring coming around the corner and then summer and then we're heavy into Ag here in the Northwest.  And these farmers are having some concerns because they saw what happened down in Bakersfield, in California where in the Mandarin and orange groves, workers just didn't show up once the Border Patrol was there.  So, on days where they were expecting the workers to come and do hand harvest and start picking, nobody showed up or it was a very limited skeleton crew. And so, you've got commodities sitting on trees or ready to harvest, or work that needs to get done because Mother Nature says ‘it's time’ and we don't have enough hands to do the work.”

Gastelum noted the last time workplace targeted raids took place was during the Obama Administration.

A question many producers are trying to deal with; what happens to a farmer, or farm manager, if it’s discovered undocumented workers have been hired?

“Under the Department of Homeland Security, is the subdivision USCIS, Customs and Immigration Services. There are legal requirements when you hire somebody in the United States. When we had the last immigration reform back in the 1990’s that’s what started the I-9 hiring practice where you have a worker fill out their information. An employer fills it. You know you're supposed to look at people's documents if they look valid and they match up with what the person's presenting, then then you're allowed to hire them. And because here in the Northwest, Washington and Oregon, we’re not a mandatory E-Verify states, there's no way to check that other than what the worker presents to you. We may have a lot of employers that at face value, they thought the person was a legal status and documented, but you know once you then start cross referencing this with the federal government and through E-Verify, you may then find out you have some people that are not legal or their documents were not true."

From there, Gastelum says it’s a question of what due diligence the employer performed to make sure the hire was appropriate.  He added farmers who didn’t follow the proper steps, could face potentially hefty civil penalties from USCIS.

For specific question, visit WAFLA's Website.

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