Farm workers working under fear of mass deportations

By Maricela De La Cruz

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    SACRAMENTO, California (KCRA) — One week since President Donald Trump took office, the threat of mass deportations has many families in northern California on edge.

Emiliano Hernández, who supervises a group of farm workers, says they’re now asking a lot more questions before taking a job, and are carefully choosing the locations they’re working in.

“Many people don’t want to work with their family members. They’re saying, ‘my wife and I will work separately’ so that they won’t be detained together,” Hernández told KCRA.

Hernández has been a field worker for 22 years and says they’ve recently started changing their routines when heading to work, avoiding being on the road too long.

For some, the decision to go to work in recent weeks has become more difficult.

“Very quickly, what workers said is, ‘Okay, well, if I don’t leave my house, I’m okay.’ And so many farmers did report that in those days while border patrol was active, they saw, higher absentee rates; a lot of workers not reporting to work,” United Farm Workers communications director Antonio Deloera said.

But even as workplace fears increase, many farm workers don’t have the option of missing work, as Marcelina Robles does.

“No matter how much fear there is, rent doesn’t stop,” she said.

For Robles, the concerns have been impacting her day-to-day life.

“We don’t want to go to the store or do laundry on weekends,” Robles said.

As fears remain present, organizations like UFW use social media to inform people about their rights through catchy songs.

“We want to remind everyone that they have a right to due process. They have a right to a lawyer, they have a right to an immigration hearing, and they should exercise those rights,” Deloera said.

Advocates say that these operations can harm relationships between undocumented people and law enforcement agencies, like people choosing not to report crimes or speak out against injustice for fear of being deported.

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