‘A lot going on’: Fresno officials speak on farm immigration raids

FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – The Trump Administration may be walking back the idea of exempting farms from immigration raids.  

Agents at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have been ordered to resume workplace raids at hotels, restaurants and farms after the Trump administration briefly paused such operations.

It’s a move that Fresno County CEO Ryan Jacobsen says could spark more fears amongst farmers if it does come to fruition. 

“There’s been a lot going on in the past week. I mean, there was the consistent concern over DHS or Border Patrol or enforcement actions here in the valley. There’s been a lot of false reports would have driven a lot of fear and anxiety to a lot of our employees,” he explained. “The announcement last week by President Trump about the farms and restaurants and potentially not going into some enforcement activities on those operations, I think helped to alleviate some of the concerns. But now with media reporting that that may have gone away, obviously may drive those fears back up.”

As of Tuesday evening, his organization hasn’t received word of the potential reversal. 

“I represent, you know, the farms and ranches and the rural communities. But those folks, the number of employed by those that are members of ours is in the minis of tens of thousands,” he said. “Folks I work with have been in discussions and talks with the folks back in D.C.”

Jacobsen says a top concern is that deportation fears could cause farmers to miss out on work which could negatively impact the economy. 

“We definitely want the opportunity for our employees to feel safe if they do go to work simply because it is such an important part of feeding this country, feeding this world. The San Joaquin Valley represents about 75% of the nation’s fruits. And similar in a similar neighborhood, about a third of the vegetables that are consumed in the nation actually come from California with this valley playing a major role in that.”

Both Jacobsen and Fresno County Supervisor Luis Chavez say the workers benefit the country. 

“Whether it’s California agriculture or American agriculture, we’re supportive of going after the criminal element in our in our communities. We’re just trying to find what the resolution is, what the fixes are for those that are employed within the agricultural industries or other industries that are out there but have stayed out of trouble and are just looking for ways to find ways to legal work authorization,” Jacobsen explained. 

Chavez said, “Nobody disagrees with the president’s priority of bringing folks that have violent criminal records and apprehending them. It’s when you start doing random raids in workplaces and places of business that I think, you know, people did not vote for that. That’s exactly the opposite of what they wanted here in our community.”

Chavez oversees a diverse population full of AG employees. 

“I think what’s very important for our community understand is we’re talking about AG. And I think oftentimes people just associate AG with the farms and the fields. And it’s not. It’s a very complicated integrated food processing system that we have here in the Central Valley, Fresno, specifically, where we have some of the highest concentration of food processing plants,” he explained. “I think the President, the general public is starting to understand that our economy depends on immigrants and the work that they produce.”

He hopes Trump doesn’t back away from stopping immigration raids on certain businesses.

“Ultimately, I’m certain that he got calls from a lot of the farmers, not just here in the valley, but across the country, that this is going to hurt. At the end of the day, if the goal is to make us safer, this does not make us safer. Random raids and ICE enforcement in workplaces is not what you’re going to get us to be a safer country,” he noted.