Stalin
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The Trump administration’s assault on immigrants is starting to hit the American food supply.
In Texas, farmers who have for years depended on undocumented people for cheap labor – to plant, harvest and haul produce – have reported that workers are staying home to avoid raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice). In Los Angeles, restaurants and food trucks have been forced to close as the immigrants who cook and wait tables fear Ice and other law enforcement.
“Farm workers in many states are thinking about leaving the country because they are facing more obstacles to work under this anti-immigrant administration,” said Elizabeth Rodriguez, director of farm worker advocacy with National Farm Worker Ministry, a longstanding organization in south Texas. “They are scared, there are fewer opportunities, and they are no longer prospering here. Their fear will soon be seen in the harvest, when the quantities of produce are depleted.”
From farm to table, at least one in five jobs in the food industry is carried out by immigrants, the equivalent of 14 million workers across the sector. This includes 27% of agricultural workers nationwide and 33% of meatpackers. In restaurants, 46% of chefs and 31% of cooks were born outside the US – mostly in Mexico, China, Guatemala and El Salvador.
These jobs are critical: immigrants made up a disproportionate number of “essential” workers during the Covid-19 pandemic, and many were exposed to unsafe conditions so that crops could be harvested, cows milked and takeout delivered.
“Whether it’s the workers behind the scenes in meatpacking plants or on the frontlines of the grocery store, our country relies heavily on the labor of immigrants to keep our food system running and our families fed,” said Mark Lauritsen, international vice-president at United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. “Without a stable, skilled workforce, safety and quality can decline, shelves can sit empty and grocery prices could rise even more.”
www.theguardian.com
comrade stalin
moscow
In Texas, farmers who have for years depended on undocumented people for cheap labor – to plant, harvest and haul produce – have reported that workers are staying home to avoid raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice). In Los Angeles, restaurants and food trucks have been forced to close as the immigrants who cook and wait tables fear Ice and other law enforcement.
“Farm workers in many states are thinking about leaving the country because they are facing more obstacles to work under this anti-immigrant administration,” said Elizabeth Rodriguez, director of farm worker advocacy with National Farm Worker Ministry, a longstanding organization in south Texas. “They are scared, there are fewer opportunities, and they are no longer prospering here. Their fear will soon be seen in the harvest, when the quantities of produce are depleted.”
From farm to table, at least one in five jobs in the food industry is carried out by immigrants, the equivalent of 14 million workers across the sector. This includes 27% of agricultural workers nationwide and 33% of meatpackers. In restaurants, 46% of chefs and 31% of cooks were born outside the US – mostly in Mexico, China, Guatemala and El Salvador.
These jobs are critical: immigrants made up a disproportionate number of “essential” workers during the Covid-19 pandemic, and many were exposed to unsafe conditions so that crops could be harvested, cows milked and takeout delivered.
“Whether it’s the workers behind the scenes in meatpacking plants or on the frontlines of the grocery store, our country relies heavily on the labor of immigrants to keep our food system running and our families fed,” said Mark Lauritsen, international vice-president at United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. “Without a stable, skilled workforce, safety and quality can decline, shelves can sit empty and grocery prices could rise even more.”
How Trump’s anti-immigrant policies could collapse the US food industry – visualized
The president is threatening to deport essential farm workers, grocery clerks and food delivery drivers. But without them, shelves could go empty and prices could soar
comrade stalin
moscow
