Farmers in California await Trump’s moves

Tough campaign talk targeting immigrants causes angst in industry.

FRESNO, CALIF. — Days after Donald Trump won the White House vowing to deport millions of people in the country illegally and fortify the Mexican border, California farmer Kevin Herman ordered nearly $600,000 in new equipment, cutting the number of workers he’ll need starting with the next harvest.

Herman, who grows figs, persimmons and almonds in the nation’s most productive farming state, said Trump’s comments pushed him to make the purchase, larger than he would have otherwise.

“No doubt about it,” Herman said. “I probably wouldn’t have spent as much or bought as much machinery as I did.”

Others in California’s farming industry say Trump’s tough campaign talk targeting immigrants in the country illegally — including a vast number of farmworkers — spurred them into action, too.

They’re calling on congressional representatives to educate the incoming president on the workforce it takes to feed the country, and they’re assuring workers they’ll protect them.

San Joaquin Valley farmer Joe Del Bosque recently gathered about 20 year-round employees at a Los Banos steakhouse for their annual holiday lunch.

The festivities began in a serious tone. The topic of immigration took a bigger part of the conversation this year because of Trump, he said.

Del Bosque told his crew he’ll make sure the new administration knows their vital role in the farming industry. It’s a message Del Bosque wants his managers to spread to another 300 seasonal workers needed at the harvest’s peak.

Leticia Alfaro, a food-safet y supervisor at the farm, said in an interview that many of her friends who work in the fields don’t have proper documentation like her, and they take Trump’s threats seriously.

“They’re terrified by his comments,” Alfaro, 53, said in Spanish.

They fear being deported and torn from their children who were born here, she said. After Trump takes office, they wonder if it will be safe to make a simple trip to the grocery store, fearing checkpoints where they’ll be pulled over and have to show their documentation.

Trump’s remarks were felt sharply in California, which produces nearly half the country’s fruits, vegetables and nuts valued at $47 billion annually. Experts say his words resonate nationwide.

Texas, Florida and Georgia are examples of states with large migrant communities dominating home construction, health care, food service industries, said David Zonderman, a labor historian at North Carolina State University.

The fear stems from Trump’s c a mpa i g n r a l l i e s , wh e r e h e received a rousing response each time he vowed to deport people who are in the country illegally — up to 11 million.

That position softened after Trump won the election, when he said he’d start with 3 million with criminal records.