Border Patrol raids are not stopping these migrant workers in Fresno County: ‘We’re working so we can eat’

FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – Surrounded by orange trees and pesticides, migrant workers in Fresno say despite anxiety about raids by immigration enforcement, there is still work to be done.

On Thursday, volunteers with Celebration Nation traveled to an orange orchard in Fresno County to offer workers both sweet bread and information about their rights, in case they were approached by authorities.

YourCentralValley.com followed along and asked migrant workers how they felt about the impending threat of a Border Patrol or ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) raid.

“We’re working so we can eat,” a worker named Teresa said. “Even though they’ve got us scared out here, we’ve got to give it all we’ve got.”

When asked why she was scared, Teresa replied, “What do you mean?”

“The majority of us don’t have papers and if they grab all of us who’s going to come to work [out here?]”

According to Teresa, most migrant workers in the orchard where she works are older people from Mexico – and she doesn’t believe younger people would come out to do their jobs. She says she’s been in this country for over 40 years and being taken back to Mexico would mean being taken away from a life she’s worked hard to build for decades.

“It would be sadder for others here who would be leaving their children born here and the lives they’ve built,” Teresa said.

Another worker named Salvador says he has his documentation but sees the anxiety and fear in his fellow workers.

“People are terrified right now,” Salvador said. “Especially with talks of the new administration and mass deportation.”

Salvador says as long as the mass deportations don’t affect people working in the fields he’s not too worried about the country’s well-being. If immigration authorities come to the fields, he says “they’ll come and take everyone away.”

“Who’s going to collect the crops?” Salvador said. “Americans don’t come to pick oranges or other fruits. We Mexicans are working to send money back to our families, if we weren’t working we wouldn’t be here.”

Officials with U.S. Customs and Border Protection have not specified whether or not migrant field workers would be a part of their operations. However, in a statement to YourCentralValley.com, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in part that the agency “conducts targeted enforcement arrests of individuals involved in smuggling.”