By admin 
With over 20,000 immigration arrests and 37,660 deportations during Donald Trump’s first month back in office, migrant workers in the U.S. agriculture industry are growing increasingly anxious about potential deportations under his executive orders.
During his campaign, Trump vowed to launch the “largest deportation in U.S. history,” aiming to remove millions of undocumented immigrants. However, according to the French news agency AFP, such a move could severely impact the agriculture sector, where 42% of the more than two million farmworkers lack legal documentation.
“We have to stay hidden,” said Lourdes Cardenas, a 62-year-old Mexican living in Fresno. “You never know if you’ll encounter immigration authorities. We can’t be free anywhere—not in schools, churches, or supermarkets,” she told AFP.
Cardenas’ fears have intensified as surprise immigration raids have been carried out across multiple cities. In his first week back in the White House, Trump rescinded long-standing protections that prevented immigration enforcement in schools, hospitals, churches, and other designated “sensitive areas,” marking a significant shift in U.S. immigration policy.
The policy change, announced on January 22, revoked guidelines established by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in 2011 and later adopted by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in 2013. These measures had been put in place to ensure undocumented individuals could access essential services without fear of arrest.
Gill Bikram Singh