Farmworkers Are Organizing to Resist Trump’s Attacks on Immigrant Workers (truthout.org)

submitted 1 day ago by Keeponstalin@lemmy.world to c/politics@lemmy.world

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The new Trump regime threatens millions of immigrant workers in the U.S., including farmworkers, many of whom are undocumented. Beyond mass deportations and workplace raids, there’s the prospect of regulatory rollbacks around heat and pesticide protections and the ramping up of hyper-exploitative guestworker programs like the H2A program.

At the same time, farmworkers in the U.S. have a proud and defiant organizing tradition, and the entire U.S. food system rests on their labor. Truthout spoke to representatives from three farmworker organizations across the country to get their initial thoughts on the election, the challenges ahead, how they plan to defend their members and communities, and how they are staying hopeful and determined going forward.

Rossy Alfaro is a former dairy worker in Vermont and organizer with Migrant Justice, which organizes dairy farmworkers in Vermont and oversees the worker-driven Milk with Dignity campaign. Jeannie Economos is the longtime pesticide safety and environmental health project coordinator for the Farmworker Association of Florida, which has organized farmworkers for over four decades. Edgar Franks is the political director of Familias Unidas por la Justicia in Washington State, an independent union of primarily Indigenous Mexican farmworkers that formed a decade ago. All three organizations are members of the Food Chain Workers Alliance, a coalition of worker-based organizations in the U.S. and Canada organizing to improve wages and working conditions for workers along the food chain.

Transcript of Interview with Alvaro can be found within the article

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[-] JesusSon@lemmy.world 13 points 22 hours ago

Don't worry, in 18 months you will be able to rent them back from the Federal Immigrant Labor Force for just $15 an hours.

[-] cabron_offsets@lemmy.world 8 points 22 hours ago

When a head of lettuce costs $12, idiots will realize what the fuck they’ve done and get pissed off. It’ll be a spectacle.

If there’s any lettuce to be found, that is.

[-] disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world 14 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

The same farmworkers that voted for Trump in the first place?

Edit: I’m not referring to the undocumented workers, but their citizen peers and employers that are currently fighting to keep the undocumented workers from being deported.

[-] Keeponstalin@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago

FCWA has repeatedly advocated against Trump's policies. Undocumented Immigrants can't vote. Nor do Immigrants duped into voting for Trump deserve to victims of Mass Deportation and Concentration camps.

[-] disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I’m aware that only citizens can vote. I’m referring to the farm owners and workers (who are citizens) that overwhelmingly voted for Trump are now fighting to protect them from deportation. Did they only expect their competitors’ undocumented workers would be deported?

https://investigatemidwest.org/2024/11/13/trump-election-farming-counties-trade-war/

[-] Keeponstalin@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

I know, farming counties are rural and susceptible to the massive amount of disinformation like every rural American. They believe in the same lies about (other illegal) immigrants being criminals and don't think Trump is talking about them, when he absolutely is. Either way they are still deserving to be protected from Trump's policies.

[-] Sprocketfree@sh.itjust.works 3 points 20 hours ago

Probably but it's hard to pull out of the "they deserve what they get because they fucked us all" position right now.

[-] Keeponstalin@lemmy.world 1 points 20 hours ago

I've seen that sentiment plenty in the last few days, unfortunately

[-] disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago

Of course they are. I’m not criticizing the undocumented workers, but their two-faced employers and citizen coworkers.

[-] Keeponstalin@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 23 hours ago)

Totally agree about the employers, the two-tier immigration system is a form of modern day slavery where corporations take advantage of illegal immigrants that have zero worker protections

[-] fluxion@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

This is the way.

[-] whithom@discuss.online 1 points 23 hours ago

Well, no there is one better way……..

this post was submitted on 16 Nov 2024

97 points (99.0% liked)

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