Immigration Raids Hit Farms And Food Plants, As ICE Targets Agriculture
Farm workers labor in the fields in Kern County, California's breadbasket, on April 9, 2025.
Immigration raids this week have been devastating for many to witness, and, amid all the chaos, the expanded ICE enforcement has turned to targeting America's agriculture industry. On Tuesday, dozens of workers were taken from their posts in fields and packing houses across the heart of California's farmland from the San Joaquin Valley to the coasts. Dozens were also taken from a small meatpacking plant in Omaha, Nebraska. And 11 workers were also arrested from a dairy farm in New Mexico.
This is a dangerous game that's being played, the impacts of which will ricochet across the food industry. Immigrants power it all, from the farming to the packing and processing to the staffing of most restaurant kitchens. And, to feed everyone, they work some of the most dangerous jobs out there—many jobs that employers say would otherwise go unfilled. Price hikes and shortages are only the start of what shoppers will start to feel.
— Chloe Sorvino
This is Forbes' Fresh Take newsletter, which every Wednesday brings you the latest on the big ideas changing the future of food. Want to get it in your inbox every week? Sign up here.
JONNYPOPS
Forbes 30 Under 30 alums Erik Brust and Connor Wray founded JonnyPops while still in college. More than a decade later, they are sitting on a mini empire of 'better-for-you' frozen treats.
The highly anticipated listing of JBS on the New York Stock Exchange is set for this Friday. And environmental nonprofit Mighty Earth, which has been fighting to delay the listing for the past two years, filed a last-ditch attempt to stop the listing earlier this week. The letter, sent to Securities and Exchange Commissioners on Sunday, highlights the risk of violating U.S. anti-money laundering laws—particularly because of alleged deforestation in the supply chain of the Brazil-founded company—if the listing goes through.
'JBS's profits represent the proceeds of crime,' the letter reads. 'For the foreseeable future, there is a real risk that profits used to pay dividends to shareholders would also constitute the proceeds of crime, and the NYSE may be held legally accountable for its role in facilitating and concealing JBS's unlawful conduct.'
JBS declined to comment. JBS representatives have previously denied allegations of deforestation in the Amazon.
Plexi Images/GHI/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Cyberhack: An apparent cyberattack on the distributor to Whole Foods and other health retailers rocked shoppers Monday. United Natural Foods Inc., better known as UNFI, 'proactively' stopped some business and took its systems offline while it investigated the hack. CNN shares that some shoppers reported bare shelves at a few Whole Foods locations.Thanks, Tariffs: Trump's 50% tariff on imported steel means that canned goods—historically a budget-conscious option in stores—are facing price hikes. And the trade group for Campbell's and Hormel estimates prices in stores could rise up to 15%, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Swedish activist Greta Thunberg was among those who attempted to sail to Gaza on a boat organized by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition.
Starvation In Gaza: An estimated 2 million Palestinians are at risk of famine, and yet global humanitarian aid providers have been shut out from helping what the Associated Press describes as among the deadliest and most destructive conflicts since World War II. A Freedom Flotilla Coalition boat carrying activist Greta Thunberg was turned away from providing aid to the blockaded Gaza Strip this week. Chef Jose Andres' World Central Kitchen has also been unable to resume aid in Gaza.
Happy Pride Month! I've been loving reading through John Birdsall's What Is Queer Food, which was published earlier this month. Bon Appetit did a fun Q&A with Birdsall, too. Give it a read!
CHLOE SORVINO
Summer is for sandwiches! And it was way too enjoyable to slather some freshly made ciabatta with the last of my stash of ramp butter, topped off a little leftover prosciutto and taleggio cheese.
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USA Today
18 minutes ago
- USA Today
Immigration raids targeting ag businesses increase
Immigration raids targeting ag businesses increase Show Caption Hide Caption House committee grills DHS Sec. Noem on due process, farming Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem faced questions from a House committee on due process and immigration policy impacting agriculture. Progressive Farmer's Chris Clayton reported that 'Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are starting to more aggressively target agriculture and food processing facilities around the country as reports over the past week from (Nebraska), New Mexico and California also highlight.' 'In Omaha, ICE agents hit a small meat processor, Glenn Valley Foods, rounding up as many as 100 workers suspected of being in the country illegally and potentially providing fake documents to gain employment,' Clayton reported. 'ICE stated it was the largest enforcement operation in Nebraska since President Donald Trump took office. Nebraska is considered the country's largest red-meat processing state with packing plants in towns and cities across the state, including multiple major plants in southeast Omaha where the raid occurred. Nearly every one of those areas also has a larger Latino population who make up the bulk of the workforce at these facilities.' More: ICE detains workers at Omaha meat plant, drawing hundreds of protesters: What we know 'Glenn Valley Foods processes and makes thinly sliced minute steaks, Gary's QuickSteak, at its facility,' Clayton reported. 'Gary Rohwer, owner and CEO of the company, told an Omaha TV station that federal investigators told him 97 employees had false identification. Rohwer told the TV station his company uses the federal E-Verify program.' 'The ICE raids on agriculture reflect the demands of President Donald Trump's aide Stephen Miller who met with ICE leaders in late May demanding the agency increase its volume of daily arrests, the Wall Street Journal reported,' Clayton reported. 'Agriculture is an industry ripe for aggressive actions given a high volume of undocumented workers in farming and in food processing facilities, going back decades. Agriculture groups have pressed for years for Congress to pass legislation that would legalize the workforce, but those bills have failed to pass.' Roughly 40% of US farmworkers are unauthorized to work The USDA's Economic Research Service reported in January that 'the share of hired crop farmworkers who were not legally authorized to work in the United States grew from roughly 14 percent in 1989–91 to almost 55 percent in 1999–2001; in recent years it has declined to about 40 percent,' the ERS reported. 'In 2020–22, 32 percent of crop farmworkers were U.S. born, 7 percent were immigrants who had obtained U.S. citizenship, 19 percent were other authorized immigrants (primarily permanent residents or green-card holders), and the remaining 42 percent held no work authorization.' More: Trump admin's emerging surveillance state raises privacy concerns 'The share of workers who are U.S. born is highest in the Midwest, while the share who are unauthorized is highest in California,' the ERS reported. 'Legal immigration status is difficult to measure: not many surveys ask the question, and unauthorized respondents may be reluctant to answer truthfully if asked,' the ERS reported. 'The U.S. Department of Labor's National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS) provides data on farmworkers' legal immigration status. NAWS data, believed to be of high quality, is gathered by trained and trusted enumerators who conduct face-to-face interviews with workers at their job sites and with their employers' permission.' More: Iowa egg supplier denies allegations of human trafficking, harassment At the House Agriculture Committee hearing yesterday, Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins was asked about ICE targeting agriculture business and the ag labor industry more broadly. She told the committee that while President Donald Trump's first commitment is to ensuring that all laws are followed, he also understands the challenges of finding labor and that his cabinet is 'doing everything we can to make sure that these farmers and ranchers have the labor that they need.' Agriculture-raids take place in California and New Mexico too KOAT Action News' Aliyah Chavez reported that 'eleven people were arrested during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid at Outlook Dairy Farms near Lovington, (New Mexico) last week, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Federal officials said nine of those arrested, while ICE was executing a search warrant, were previously banned from the United States.' More: Ohio Democrats, Asian groups oppose ban on property sales to Chinese, other immigrants In addition, Clayton wrote that 'the Los Angeles Times reported, 'Alarm spread through California agricultural centers Tuesday as panicked workers reported that federal immigration authorities — who had largely refrained from major enforcement action in farming communities in the first months of the Trump administration — were showing up at farm fields and packinghouses from the Central Coast to the San Joaquin Valley.'' ICE protest in Columbus calls for immigration rais to stop A protest in downtown Columbus called for ICE raids and activity to cease in the city. 'ICE agents raided produce farms in Ventura County, California. The CEO of the Ventura County Farm Bureau cited that immigration agents visited five produce-packing facilities and farms in the area. Farms were also raided in Tulare County where farm workers had been picking blueberries, the LA Times reported,' Clayton reported. 'Dozens of immigrant workers were detained. Video posted by a California TV station showed workers fleeing and ICE agents arresting them in the field.'
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Fox News
26 minutes ago
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Kristi Noem suspects 'completely inappropriate' Democratic senator 'wanted the scene'
While giving a briefing on federal efforts to restore peace in Los Angeles, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's press conference Thursday became engulfed in a display some critics called "political theater" when a California Democratic lawmaker interrupted Noem's remarks. After loudly speaking over Noem and approaching the podium where she was standing, Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., was escorted out of the room. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Padilla did not identify himself as a senator and was not wearing his Senate security pin. Although the two later met in private where they spoke for about 15 minutes, Padilla later spoke to the media, claiming he was "forced to the ground." Noem criticized Padilla's "absolutely ridiculous" statement, noting his behavior was "completely inappropriate" and "not becoming" of a public official. "This man burst into a room, started advancing toward the podium, interrupting an opening statement, elevating his voice, [and] shouting questions. People tried to stop him from interrupting the press conference. He refused and continued to lunge towards the podium," Noem said Thursday on "The Story." "That is when he was removed from the room. The way that he acted was completely inappropriate." After Padilla was removed from the room, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) personnel began handcuffing the senator in the hallway, at which point he identified himself, and they ceased action, Noem told Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum shortly after the incident. A DHS spokesperson also said Padilla was told "repeatedly" to back away, and "did not comply" with officers' commands. "[Secret Service] thought he was an attacker and officers acted appropriately," the spokesperson said. Although Noem says the pair were OK after their private conversation, she observed Padilla may have "wanted the scene", particularly in light of his comments to the media following the incident. "If this is how this administration responds to a senator with a question, if this is how the Department of Homeland Security responds to a senator with a question, you can only imagine what they're doing to farm workers, to cooks, to day laborers out in the Los Angeles community and throughout California," Padilla told reporters Thursday. "We will hold this administration accountable." After criticizing Padilla's comments, Noem told "The Story" she was "so sick of the politics" and urged opponents to "get over themselves and have the backs of law enforcement." "I think the American people are sick of this kind of action. I think American people are tired of this. They just want the truth, and they just want to know what's happening, and that's what we were trying to provide," she said. Fox News Digital's Alexandra Koch and Fox News' Bill Melugin contributed to this story.
