Immigrants are key to New Bedford's fishing industry. Since January, some are on edge.

Boston Globe

09-07-2025

Grave is part of a long line of immigrants who help sustain the fishing industry in New Bedford, the most valuable fishing port in the country. But immigration crackdowns by the Trump administration across New England and in New Bedford, where about
Grave stood near some of the buoy inventory at Leonel's Nets in New Bedford on July 1.
Craig F. Walker/Globe Staff
Advertisement
Grave, a father of three, said he is authorized to live and work in the country. But that has not stopped him from worrying about what might happen to him.
'I'm afraid, right? Because I already have a business here,' he said. 'I have a house, too.'
Advertisement
Other immigrants he knows are scared, he said, choosing to only go to work and go straight home. He thinks these anxieties could impact not just fishing in New Bedford, but other parts of the economy, too.
Community leaders said New Bedford has not seen large-scale workforce raids similar to a
But recent incidents, such as the case of a
An ICE agent smashed the window of the car of Guatemalan immigrant Juan Francisco Méndez, who was then arrested and taken to an undisclosed location.
New Bedford Light
Immigrants in the city, which has a population of
'It's a multifaceted industry and it depends a great deal, and historically it's depended a great deal, on immigrant labor and immigrants who have built up the industry,' she said.
Some foreign-born residents fleeing instability in Central America in the 1980s and 1990s settled in New Bedford and got jobs in the seafood sector, said Lisa Maya Knauer, an anthropology professor at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.
'Not everybody works in seafood, but most people have at one time or another,' she said. 'If they're currently working in construction or recycling, they may have put in some time at a seafood processing plant.'
Advertisement
The seemingly random nature of recent ICE detentions has put people on edge.
'Even though the numbers are smaller, the impact on communities is higher, in a sense, because there's such an arbitrary nature to it that people feel very vulnerable,' Williams told the Globe. 'At the same time, folks have to go out to work, people have to make a living and support their households and families.
"
Williams said while there have been
'Many of the workers are longstanding workers who have been working in the industry for many years,' she said.
Jonathan Darling, a spokesperson for the City of New Bedford, said commercial fishing crews out of the Port of New Bedford are ordinarily US citizens, so immigration policies are unlikely to have a major impact on that facet of the industry.
But, he said, 'it is too early to tell what, if any, impact the new policies will have on seafood processing.'
John Whiteside, general counsel at the American Scallop Association, an organization that represents Atlantic scallop processors and distributors, many of whom are in New Bedford, said its members are closely following the increased enforcement of federal immigration laws.
The companies, he said, use E-Verify to confirm their employees are legally authorized to work in the United States.
'While finding quality employees is a challenge across all industries, members of the American Scallop Association are proud of the workforce we've built and the integrity of our hiring practices,' he said.
Whiteside said his organization was aware that the Trump administration was
Advertisement
Fishing boats tied up at New Bedford's State Pier.
David L. Ryan/Globe Staff/David L Ryan, Globe Staff
'We look forward to working with the administration to develop practical, humane policies that support both workforce stability and legal compliance,' Whiteside said in a statement.
Some in the industry beyond New Bedford said the US needs to find a solution to immigration that has thus far proved elusive.
'There needs to be a way for people who want to work in these types of jobs to continue to be able to do so,' said Chris Lee, CEO of Sea Fresh USA, a fishing company based in North Kingstown, R.I. 'It's important for this country to prosper, to have people willing and able to do this kind of work.'
Lee said he hires immigrant workers with legal status. These workers are critical to his business, he said.
'We are a factory here in America. Our workers are low-wage workers. The work is fairly manual, mundane work. And ever since I've been doing this, that's been done by . . . primarily an immigrant workforce,' Lee, who has worked in the sector for nearly three decades, said.
He hopes the Trump administration will give workers in the fishing industry some protection from ICE.
'We all watch these videos of these ICE raids and things like that, which make you very uncomfortable, very nervous,' he said. 'But hopefully our workers can continue to do what they want to do.'
As his business's only worker, Grave sells his nets and buoys to clients in New York, New Jersey, Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts.
Advertisement
Running his own business, while gratifying, has been tough.
'To be honest with you, it's easier to be an employee, to work for somebody because once your job is done, your time is yours, right?' Grave said. 'But I decide to be my own boss. ... When I go to bed, I'm the last one who goes to bed and I'm first one to get up.'
The outlook for his business is clouded in uncertainty as he is unsure of what to expect, not just on immigration, but on
'We don't know what's gonna happen,' he said.
Omar Mohammed can be reached at