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A crackdown on undocumented workers by the Trump administration has sent shockwaves through the nation’s farms, factories and food supply chains — prompting warnings of worker shortages and higher prices.
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller sounded the alarm this week as immigration raids continue to disrupt labor across the state’s farming industry — particularly in dairy operations.
Miller told Bloomberg that the situation has become more dire for livestock producers amid growing absenteeism among workers fearful of being detained.
“Those cows, they have to be milked every eight hours, so if milkhands are gone, what are you going to do? It’s sheer panic,” he said.
Dairy farms across Texas are struggling to maintain routine operations as both undocumented and legal workers stay home to avoid potential encounters with immigration authorities, according to Bloomberg News.
The increased presence of ICE agents, combined with confusion over federal enforcement policy, has led to widespread uncertainty.
Though Trump briefly suggested farms might be spared, the Department of Homeland Security reaffirmed Thursday that agents are to target anyone in the country without legal status.
“President Trump was elected on his promise to enforce federal immigration law and he is doing just that,” Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, told The Post.
“The Trump Administration is primarily focused on deporting criminal illegal aliens, especially prioritizing those in dangerous Sanctuary Cities.”
Jackson added that “any suggestion that enforcing immigration law will hurt the workforce misses the forest for the trees – over one in ten young adults in America are neither employed, in higher education, nor pursuing some sort of vocational training.”
“There is no shortage of American minds and hands to grow our labor force.”
The Department of Agriculture estimates that more than 40% of US farmworkers are undocumented.
Shay Myers, who runs one of America’s largest onion farms — Owyhee Produce in Idaho — warned: “We will not feed our people in this country without these workers, plain and simple.”
He told Bloomberg News that he’s had to abandon planting some crops due to labor shortages, noting it costs over $21,000 per legal H-2A visa worker for just four months of harvest work.
Texas peach grower Katelyn Eames described the reality on her farm.
“If it weren’t for them, there would be no peaches,” she told Bloomberg News, referring to foreign visa workers.
“If you think a US citizen wanted to pick 500 acres of my dad’s peaches in the last 60 years, you would be sadly mistaken.”
In California alone, mass deportations could slash $275 billion from the state’s economy and cut $23 billion in annual tax revenue, according to a new report by the Bay Area Council Economic Institute and UC Merced.
While some sectors have turned to technology or legal visa programs like H-2A to fill gaps, those options remain expensive and time-consuming.
Farmers say they’re caught between federal crackdowns and the practical realities of food production.
Even industries previously seen as “off limits” are feeling the pressure.
After a high-profile June 6 ICE raid, Los Angeles’ Fashion District saw a 40% drop in casual visits and nearly a quarter fewer employees showing up, according to local business leaders.
Jackson disputed the implication that immigration raids were to blame for this, telling The Post: “Violent rioters in Los Angeles, enabled by failed Democrat leaders Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass, have vandalized small businesses, set cars on fire, and created a lawless, chaotic environment.”
“Newsom’s refusal to quell this behavior is crushing businesses who rely on a safe environment to draw in customers,” according to Jackson, who added: “It’s the Democrat riots – not enforcement of federal immigration law – that is hurting small businesses.”
The Post has sought comment from Newsom.
English (US)