On July 17 I was interviewed by Martha Raddatz, co-anchor of the ABC Sunday news magazine show This Week with George Stephanopoulos, about current immigration enforcement activities.
Why me? I’ve been doing production agriculture for 47 years; I work and have worked a lot with Mexican farm workers, and I’m willing to talk to journalists.
Our time was brief. The interview will be part of a big picture look at the Trump agenda 6 months in, including the Border Patrol, Tariffs, Downtown LA Immigration enforcement actions, and California agriculture. The entire segment is expected to end up at 6-7 minutes total, so there’s no telling how much of our conversation will end up being used.
I tried to say just a few things:
Farm labor is skilled labor and very hard work. It’s easy for somebody sitting at a computer to deem physical labor unskilled, but they should try it before they label it. You’re not going to replace skilled physical labor with people off the welfare rolls, and you’re not going to be able to automate the work — you need the people. Food production in the US today is utterly dependent on farm workers, many of whom are undocumented.
If you remove farm workers from the fields you’re going to impact production. That’s arithmetic – crops need to be planted, tended, harvested, packed – that takes skilled people, and fewer people yields less food.
Immigrant farm workers come to this country, and have been coming to this country forever, because there is a demand for their labor. So if you don’t want them to come, go after the demand – enforce on the employers who draw them here, not the laborers. And if you do want them to come, then make it possible for them to be here – let there be a path to live and work and pay taxes here legally.
Farm laborers are not criminals, as they are so often made out to by the current administration.They’re hardworking individuals trying to provide for their families.
A second subject that I tried to talk about is the social and personal disruption that the current enforcement actions are causing. Statistics from the people who have been rounded up show that most of them have been here for at least 10 years, and many for 20 years. They live here, work here, shop here, pay taxes here, send their children to school here. The way the current round-ups are going, families are losing their breadwinners, often without knowing that the person has even been taken until he doesn’t come home, or where he’s been taken, or how to find him. Entire communities are staying at home from fear of going out, and as they stay home the businesses that they spend their money at are closing, and more people lose their jobs. The human cost is enormous, and it’s going to get worse.
I have an undocumented friend. She wanted to tell her story but the producers heard from the Legal Department that they couldn’t guarantee confidentiality, so she chose to stay home. I asked if she wanted to tell her story to me and I could pass it on; here it is, as dictated in Spanish to her daughter who translated it on the fly as she was typing it into her phone:
I want to share some of my life story. Already here living in Ojai. Since I arrived 25 years ago until today, I have worked hard. I never asked the government for help. I have always paid my taxes. I have worked hard to give my children an education because I am a single mother. I had moral support from my family but I had to work double shifts. I did not come to this country to take or steal from you. I taught my children to work since they were 16 years old. I taught them to work. I know that we are in a country that does not belong to us. I want to apologize. Because I know the law is violated. But rest assured that I consider myself a person who was never a burden to your government. I had the opportunity to apply for a U visa, which I had no idea existed due to domestic abuse and I never did. I always worked. And today, in these days, my family and I are following the policies of the new government. I am no one to criticize this government, but I know that deep down in your heart I hope and understand us. We just want to live freely, not to be harassed because of the color of my skin, my physique, or my language. It’s a great shame to walk or go to the store, to church, because I’m just taking care of myself. And since I’m not talking about work, I lost my job. All because of the fact that people are scared these days. There are no sales in restaurants, and I had to rest. I’m surviving on my few savings, or my children can help me a little. I want my voice and my story to be told. I know I’m just a voice, but behind me there are acquaintances who are worse off than me. They have small children and are afraid to be separated from them. Acquaintances who have been deported. And yes… if they ask me why don’t you go back to your country… it’s not that I don’t want to leave, but that my children have lived their lives here, thank you very much. Even if I’m not here, it won’t change, but I know that someone with a good heart has made everything. I speak for all those people who are suffering. Thank you very much.