From the moment Donald J. Trump was elected President of the United States, people all over America, and the world, felt a wave of varying emotions. For his supporters and many right-wing conservatives, it was happiness and excitement; the Republican party had taken back the White House and now held the majority in both the House and the Senate. But for immigrants and minorities across America, it was fear and uncertainty of what would come next. 

The 9th of November was a somber day for many heartbroken from the election results. People expressed their fear all over social media; a fear so many minority people now felt because Trump, a man who promoted violence, racism and sexism throughout his campaign, was sitting in the most respected seat in the United States government. It is now nearly 100 days since Trump was inaugurated and he is marked as the least popular president in modern times, with an approval rating of just 42%, compared to Obama’s 69% approval rating this time 8 years ago (Balz). Within this time span he has signed 66 executive actions. With attacks on the Affordable Care Act, Planned Parenthood, and the Environmental Protection Agency, his new policies targeting immigration, specifically illegal immigrants from Mexico and those from Muslim-majority countries, are just the start of a long battle ahead for liberals, minorities, immigrants, and anyone else who disagrees with what is happening with these new policies. Given the country’s current political climate, I argue that Trump’s new policies regarding immigration and deportation of undocumented people are detrimental to American society, specifically agribusiness and the food industry, and that these new policies are going to negatively affect the nation in the long run.  

Immigrants have been a vital part of this country since the day it was colonized. America is based entirely on people settling new land hundreds of years ago. This nation is a country of immigrants. Therefore, it gained a reputation as the “Great Melting Pot.” Yet, immigration has always been a complicated topic in politics. The United States is perceived as a land of opportunity to people all over the world, mainly because of the popularized “American Dream” mentality. Therefore, the issue of illegal immigration and how to deal with illegal immigrants is one of the biggest problems the government faces. 

Over the years, the issue of illegal immigrants has been and currently is most prominent in one industry: agriculture. The food and agriculture industry is based on undocumented and migrant workers from Mexico and other Hispanic countries. According to the National Farm Worker Ministry (NFWM), six out of ten workers are undocumented immigrants, meaning they naturally face quite a few issues on the job (“National Farm Worker Industry”). Because of the Trump Administration, these workers are at even more of a risk than ever before. Trump’s new policies include tripling the number of ICE officers, mandatory return of all criminal aliens, ending birthright citizenship, defunding sanctuary cities, and detention, rather than the current catch-and-release method, of illegal immigrants. The plan of spending billions of taxpayer dollars on a new wall is also in place. This crackdown may seem appealing to his supporters, conservatives and anyone in support of stricter immigration policies, but the reality of the situation is that these policies will hurt our country rather than help it. According to an article published by U.S. News & World Report, researchers at Oxford Economics note that "assuming the Trump administration boosts deportations by 50 percent above the recent peak … the resultant smaller labor force could reduce real GDP by up to 0.2 [percentage points] in the first year" (Soegrel). Trump is so concerned with bringing jobs back to Americans and boosting the economy, yet what he plans on doing might hurt it. The article also points out that as stricter immigration policies are put in place, less immigrants will come to the United States, resulting in losses of labor force and small businesses often created by these immigrants. Regardless of being legal or illegal, these people fuel our economy so throwing them all out or barring them from entering will have a noticeable negative effect.

 Prior to the 2016 election, undocumented workers of the agriculture industry were already at a disadvantage, but Donald Trump’s current policies have almost created a witch hunt for illegal immigrants across the country. This situation is starting to spark a dangerous cycle of discrimination and exploitation around people of Hispanic dissent, damaging any progress made for undocumented workers in the past decades. Throughout his campaign, Trump spieled lies during his rallies, and labeled these people as criminals, thieves and rapists. Now that he is in office, he is creating policies that “publicizes crimes by undocumented immigrants; strips such immigrants of privacy protections; enlists local police officers as enforcers; erects new detention facilities; discourages asylum seekers; and, ultimately, speeds up deportations” (Nixon). These aggressive new policies counteract any previous efforts made by the Obama and Bush administrations “who sought to balance protecting the nation’s borders with fiscal, logistical and humanitarian limits on the exercise of laws passed by Congress” (Nixon).

Yet, with Trump’s recently passed policies, deportation of all undocumented immigrants is happening every day to anyone ICE, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, can get their hands on. An article from The New York Times points out that the main issue with the new policies put in place is that previously immigrants who had committed serious crimes would be deported first; now literally anyone can be deported at any time (Nixon). The issue that Trump, his administration, and supporters do not understand is that these massive deportations could cause agriculture to collapse given 50%-70% of the workers are undocumented. If these workers are taken out of the industry there will be no one to replace them. The average American is not willing to work in such conditions which is why these undocumented workers make up most the industry. Ultimately the result could be an increase in the price of food due to the lack of workers, as well as more of a struggle for small farmers to keep their businesses running (Garfield). Overall undocumented workers are vital to our current system, so it is important to think twice and weigh the outcomes when making huge decisions regarding their involvement in this country. 

The VICE News short segment, “The Worst Job In New York: Immigrant America”, about undocumented workers in the dairy industry accurately reflects the struggle both farmers and their workers face to provide for the dairy market. The work is hard and laboring, which is why Americans avoid taking these jobs at all costs, even when they are in desperate need of one. Small farm owners are being forced to look to undocumented workers because it's all they can afford due to the supply chain of the industry. Supermarkets dictate pricing down the entire supply structure, meaning many farmers can't afford to pay their employees more for such gruesome work. Therefore, undocumented workers are the ones to take the jobs; they'll do anything they can to make a living and have a better life in America. Because of this, the industry is facing big problems. ICE is cracking down more now than in previous years. They are aggressively hunting illegal immigrants because it's only about the numbers for them. They need big figures to satisfy the quotas the government wants. This leads to discrimination and unjust profiling of Hispanic people, leaving many legal citizens victim to their hunt as well. 

Regardless of ICE's quotas and farmers’ abilities to pay workers, Americans should not be paying billions of dollars in taxes to deport peaceful people who are here to make a better life for themselves. It costs the country far more to deport them than allow them to stay here and work as cheaper labor. They are not taking away jobs from Americans; the jobs they are taking are ones Americans have no interest in doing. This is just one reason why immigrants, even if they are undocumented, are so important to the United States economy. Our country should be working to help make the path to becoming a citizen more attainable or issuing more visas for migrant workers to allow both the industries and the immigrants to work together legally rather than cut corners and be forced to hire them illegally. Our government should help protect people who come here to work and have a better life, rather than criminalize them. 

Over the years, laws have been created that somewhat address the many issues of worker’s rights. Yet these laws are very limited. Two laws that have been successfully put in place to protect farmworkers in the United States are the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act of 1983. These laws are vital to the farm working community because of the sad fact that they often encounter abusive labor practices from their employers. Many of these people work for employers who skirt minimum wage laws, work under unhealthy or dangerous conditions, or live in inhumane substandard housing. Because of this, farm workers rely on the provisions of the FLSA and the MSPA to provide some amount of worker protection (“US Labor Law for Farmworkers”). A lack of unions also limits how much these workers can fight for their rights. According to a report by Human Rights Watch, “Many workers who try to form trade unions and bargain collectively are spied on, harassed, pressured, threatened, suspended, fired, deported or otherwise victimized for their exercise of the right to freedom of association” (“Summary”). The formation of unions could do so much for these people, especially those illegal workers who are afraid to speak up. Having at least one person fighting for the many can do so much; and this is seen through the work of Cesar Chavez.

This one man gave a voice to the many other farm workers in the United States angry and frustrated with the way they were being treated. Through nonviolent protests and fasting, Chavez raised awareness about pressing issues. His creation of United Farm Workers changed the lives of so many people. When he got grape growers to accept union contracts in the 1970s, he effectively organized most of the industry. Part of the reason he was so successful was because of the way he protested. Some of his most famous demonstrations were the Delano Grape Strike, his fasts that focused national attention on farm workers’ problems, and the 340-mile march from Delano to Sacramento in 1966 (“Our Vision”). These actions pushed for stricter legislation, specifically in the west, in favor of the millions of farm workers in that region. He ultimately made people more aware of the struggles of farm workers, pushing for better pay and safer working conditions.

Today the UFW continues to fight and raise awareness about pressing issues in major agricultural industries across the country. The organization’s website reports that recently there have been dozens of key UFW union contract victories, among them the largest strawberry, rose, winery and mushroom firms in California and the nation. For example, 75 percent of California's mushroom industry is now under union contract. Also in 2007, the organization signed a contract with Three Mile Canyon Farms, which is America's largest dairy corporation. This was also the first major union contract protecting farm workers in Oregon. They are also working to push UFW-sponsored laws and regulations that aide farm workers, among that being an AgJobs immigration reform bill (“Our Vision”).

Hispanic immigrants aren't the only immigrants facing major issues under Trump's administration. On January 27, 2017, only a week into his new role as president, Trump issued a new travel ban. This executive order quickly became known as the "Muslim Ban" because it specifically targets citizens of majority-Muslim countries, but excludes countries Trump coincidentally has business ties to. The people temporarily barred from entering the United States include citizens from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, refugees, new immigrants, and visitors, students and workers without current visas. People from these six Muslim-majority countries are barred for 90 days. Initially refugees from Syria were barred indefinitely, but after a revisal, all refugees, regardless of where they are from, are banned for 120 days. A cut to the current refugee program was also put in place, cutting it in half and implementing a cap at 50,000 for the 2017 fiscal year. 

Yet, this ban was not taken lightly by people. Within hours of Trump implementing the order, Americans came together in protest outside various airports to show their outrage. Numerous organizations, lawyers, and people of every race and gender took a stand through marches, pro-bono work, and other forms of protest to do what they could to show their support for those affected by this unjust law. According to an article from The New York Times, Margaret Huang, the executive director of Amnesty International USA, said in a statement that the new order would “cause extreme fear and uncertainty for thousands of families by, once again, putting anti-Muslim hatred into policy” (Thrush). Huang’s statement brings back the main point of this argument, these new policies are hurting America and the people that make up our country. 

Ultimately the current administration is targeting a group of people that are vital to the United States. We are immigrants through and through. Drastic changes in immigration policies will create disastrous effects on our economy, industries and society. Even though Donald Trump has implemented many harsh and even unconstitutional orders since entering office, he has done one thing that is ultimately helping our country; he has created a group of people who are ready to stand up for what they believe in and resist. We have protests happening almost every week. We have people voicing their opinions and standing up for the civil rights of all. We have people calling their congressman pleading for their support. But most importantly, we have people caring for each other. Overall, what is happening in our country is not ideal. Yet, when looking at such a dark situation in the most optimistic way possible, we have a large movement forming of people from every race, gender and background ready to put up a fight and protect the rights of everyone. 
