Undocumented migrants form the backbone of California's Salinas Valley, known as the 'salad bowl of the world'. However, a summer of unprecedented immigration raids has left these workers in a state of hyper-vigilance, fearing surveillance, forced separation from their families, and deportation.
According to the US Department of Agriculture, about half of the country's 2.4 million agricultural farm workers lack legal status, with the proportion even higher in California. In one field in Salinas Valley, a crew of 25 workers included only one citizen, two visa holders, and two protected by Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca), meaning 80% were undocumented.
Workers report feeling safest at home or in the fields, but now avoid roads, shops, and public spaces. 'When we go to the store to get groceries, we have the feeling that someone is following us,' said Lupe, a 39-year-old Daca recipient and single mother of six. She fears deportation despite her status, noting that even Daca holders have been swept up in raids.
Peligro, a 52-year-old majordomo who moved from Mexico at 18, has three US-born children. He cannot regularise his status without leaving the country and risking a 10-year re-entry ban. His 81-year-old mother, who holds a visa, refuses to visit due to the political climate. 'Do you think Americans will do this work?' Peligro asked. 'If they do, they won't do it for $17 an hour. It's really hard work.'
Although no raids have yet occurred on farms in the Salinas Valley, according to the Rapid Response Network in Monterey County, the fear is pervasive. Workers are self-imposing lockdowns reminiscent of the pandemic's early days, avoiding doctors and dentists, and living with the constant threat of disappearance.
