Uncertainty in ag industry following executive orders

There are growing concerns for many Central Coast industries, as they figure out if President Donald Trump’s recently signed executive orders could have a trickle down effect.

One of the executive orders was directed towards immigration, which allowed Immigrations and Customs Enforcement to target the removal of undocumented immigrants. The plan prioritizes deporting an estimated two million people who have had run-ins with the law. Another executive order concerned the Transpacific Partnership Agreement.

Fears of the unknown are cultivating in the Salinas Valley.

“I’m sensing that farmers and ranchers are very concerned about what that means for them, as far as their labor supply,” said Norm Groot with the Monterey County Farm Bureau. “Admittedly, agriculturists have said, ‘We know that there’s a certain amount that are undocumented,’ and that’s why we pushed for immigration reform and some sort of new policy in Washington, D.C.. But that being said, if they take drastic measure such as the ones being proposed at this point, then it could have impacts on whether or not we are able to harvest our crops here.”

According to the American Farm Bureau, at least half of the farm workers in the country are unauthorized. Crescencio Diaz, the president of the Teamsters Local 890, said that number could be as high as 90-percent in Monterey County. One of those undocumented workers is Jorge Luis, who is watching and waiting.

“I’m scared, but then you get used to the fact that they can throw you back into your country,” Luis said. “Oh well, I’ll just go back with my family.”

“A lot of people are afraid and they don’t know what to expect,” Diaz said. “I think they feel like nobody likes them, nobody wants them and they’re here just to do a job. They’re not here to kill anybody or rape anybody, as Mr. Trump has said. The majority of people are in the fields, breaking their backs, picking their strawberries or lettuce or vegetables so we can feed the nation.”

But there could still be a financial hit. The American Farm Bureau said if the ag industry were to lose access to all undocumented workers nationally, output would fall by at least $30 billion. With less supply, prices would go up for produce.

“I think what we’re watching too is whether they’re going to require E-verify to be mandatory for all workers in the United States and if so, that could dramatically impact not only agriculture but a lot of industries including hospitality. I think there are genuine concerns going forward that if we don’t have some solution for agriculture, we’re not going to be able to pick our crops and that means less food for the United States and the world and I think we need to be cognizant to the fact that yes we are dependent on that labor to pick our crops,” Groot said.

The ag community is also waiting to see the impact of the United States pulling out of the Transpacific Partnership Agreement, and what that will mean for local farmers. Monterey County exports goods to at least four of the countries participating in the TPP, including Canada, Mexico and Japan.