Aug 1, 2025

ICE field raids harm growers, workers

And he was off!

The ground beneath his feet was soft, and he stumbled as he tried to run straight and stay headed down the narrow row he had just picked. His cart and the crop he had harvested had been left behind for someone else to retrieve. Doubtless he could hear them as they got closer, and he could see the white Suburban barreling alongside the field then slowing to match his pace.  

He tripped and down he went. Quickly the two men were on him.  

He wouldn’t be going home after work. 

The video was a little grainy, mostly due to the morning haze just starting to lift off the strawberry field. However, you could see the situation unfolding despite the haze as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) added another checkmark to their quota.

Watching the video, it made you wonder what the man had done. Was he a murderer running through the field to get away from the law? A rapist? A member of a violent gang? 

Or was he a farmworker in a strawberry field deftly plucking the juicy ripe fruit, doing the hard work most people try to avoid, but here in unauthorized status?  

Stepped-up immigration enforcement and deportations have been witnessed across the country as a campaign promise is fulfilled.  

President Trump indicated following an April 12 cabinet meeting that he recognized that agricultural employers needed some help in dealing with his immigration policy. He appeared to acknowledge that longtime farmworkers should be provided with an opportunity, with employer support, to continue working in agriculture and doing their part to keep America strong.

Unfortunately, details of what the president was suggesting following that meeting have been elusive to track down.

Last week, NCAE wrote to several cabinet members and the White House indicating our willingness to work with the administration to collaboratively structure a solution to the vexing reality that a significant number of the people working on America’s farms and ranches are doing so in an unauthorized status.  

Some might refer to these people as “undocumented.” However, as farm and ranch families across the country are aware, you cannot hire someone to work at your business unless they provide you with documentation. 

New hires are required to fill out an Employment Eligibility Verification from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) no later than the first day of employment. This document identified by DHS as a Form I-9 requires that after the new hire completes their portion of the form, the employer must, within three days of the employee’s preparation of the form, review and attest that they have reviewed the documentation the hire has provided.

The documentation may be a U.S. passport or an I-94 for an H-2A worker. Acceptable documentation might also include a combination of documents such as a driver’s license and a Social Security card. The list of acceptable documentation is significant.

Despite this protocol, the National Agricultural Worker Survey performed biennially by the U.S. Department of Labor reveals that more than 40% of the domestic agricultural workforce is working in an unauthorized status. They have documents, as the employer has reviewed and attested to having reviewed. But, they are still unauthorized.

“May you live in interesting times,” is often referred to as a Chinese curse that portends trouble or chaos. Perhaps we are doing just that.

One ongoing thought that I have as I reflect on the video I noted at the beginning of this article is: Who will pick the rest of his row?

— Michael Marsh has led the National Council of Agricultural Employers since 2017. A Wyoming native and certified public accountant, Marsh worked for a CPA firm with farm and ranch clients investigating fraud. He was director of finance for the Almond Board of California for 7 years and for 15 years was CEO of the largest U.S. dairy producer trade association.