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More than 90% of California farmworkers say immigration enforcement operations and deportations have affected their employment under President Donald Trump’s second term.
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That’s according to a by the UFW Foundation, which is a farmworker advocacy organization separate from the historic labor union. The survey, which consisted of 2,250 farmworkers, is a window into how the nationwide surge in immigration enforcement has affected a heavily undocumented workforce in California. Respondents were from across the country but mostly lived in the state and had no legal status.
Among the most striking findings were that 90% of farmworkers feared family separation, about two-thirds had shopped less and roughly one-third had not sought medical attention. About 85% of all respondents had lived in the country for more than 10 years.
“Farmworker families are retreating from everyday activities, thus harming the vitality of their communities and the nation overall,” the survey states.
Estimates on the number of noncitizen farmworkers in the state vary widely though most experts believe
Last year, The Sacramento Bee reported that the federal administration had mostly avoided high-profile immigration enforcement at farms and agriculture businesses in California’s Central Valley during the first six months of Trump’s second administration. Experts attributed the restricted enforcement to the influence of powerful agriculture businesses.
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That has largely remained true one year later, though fear remains high among immigrants amid an escalation of arrests, deportations and crackdown on the legal immigration system. Nearly 90% of the farmworkers surveyed feared detention and deportation.
There have been some cases of large enforcement at agricultural workplaces, including immigration sweeps in July 2025 at two Southern California cannabis farms that led to the arrests of more than 300 people. One man, a 56-year-old husband and father, died after he fell from a greenhouse roof while trying to hide.
The survey also focused on what lead author and San Diego State University Imperial Valley lecturer Jonathan Angulo called “hopes and aspirations for the future.” The federal government has repeatedly failed to pass any major immigration reform in the last 40 years.
Of those surveyed, 87% said they would visit a family member if such federal reform was enacted. Another 34% said they would attend and organize the school activities of their child.
“Despite the very real risk of arrest, deportation and family separation, this survey reveals the majority of undocumented workers still aspire to more fully participate in the country they so faithfully serve,” said Angulo, who is also UFW Foundation’s research and policy analyst fellow.
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