The vast majority (92%) of U.S. farm workers – whether working with or without legal authorization – said in a recent survey by the United Farm Workers Foundation that raids and deportations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have affected their employment. Some 61% said they are shopping less, and 29% say they are not seeking medical attention for fear of immigration enforcement.
Further, reports The Guardian, 90% said they worry about family separation, and another 17% said they fear being subjected to forced labor in immigration detention if arrested.
The survey features responses from 2,250 farm workers, many of whom are not legally authorized to work. Of the more than 2.6 million farm workers in the U.S., 66% are noncitizen immigrants and 47% report lacking work authorization, according to data from the 2022 National Agricultural Workers Survey.
In February 2026, a bipartisan group of commodity organization chiefs, farm leaders and former USDA Officials sent a letter to the House and Senate Committees for Agriculture, warning that the immigration enforcement policies of the second term of President Donald Trump are “threatening the long-term competitiveness of U.S. agriculture.”
Read More: U.S. Tariff and Deportation Policies on Collision Course in Agribusiness
Farm labor is not the only U.S. employment sector negatively impacted by the harsh crackdown on undocumented labor. In February, Unite Here, the largest hospitality union in the U.S., said the number of employed hospitality workers in the U.S. has dropped sharply, in part because of Trump’s immigration policies, and has put a chill on the industry.
Construction is another example of an industry that relies heavily on immigrant labor, much of it conducted by those without legal status to work in the U.S.
“Because Congress has not passed any genuine immigration reform law since 1986, the number of undocumented field laborers has grown, placing them at risk of arrest, especially along northern and southern border communities,” the UFW Foundation said in a July 30 press release about the survey.
"Today, agricultural employers want a one-sided solution that rejects a path to citizenship and instead expands the H-2A farm worker guest program while at the same time reducing its minimal protections. This report highlights farm workers’ hopes for a bipartisan solution, such as the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, to acquire documented status and remain living with their loved ones without enduring family separations.”
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