Allie Anthony
President Trump signed executive orders involving immigration after promising the “largest deportation program in American history.”
Some of the Coachella Valley’s population of undocumented farm workers are worried about what comes next.
According to the New American Economy Research Fund, immigrants make up more than 80 percent of California’s agricultural workforce.
Here on the Coachella Valley’s most fertile land — immigrants are among the farm workers who put food in our grocery stores.
“They came here to have a better future, better job opportunities since over there it’s way more difficult for job opportunities,” a local farmworker said.
The farmworker’s parents and grandparents all work in the fields in the East Valley. Now they wonder if their family will be torn apart.
While they’re apart of a necessary workforce— one that contributes nearly $1 billion to our local economy— according to the Coachella Valley Economic Partnership— these folks are feeling the weight of the threat of mass deportations.
“They’re scared that for example, police or border patrol are gonna come to the work place and they’re just gonna like take them,” the farmworkers said.
It’s a sobering possibility that the young woman, who is a U.S. citizen, could be left to care for herself and her younger sibling because her parents are undocumented.
“It’s gonna be very hard if something like that scary very scary to think about just her me and her being here alone,” the farmworker said.
These are the fears that we’re told are plaguing many families in the East Valley. Todec, a legal center for immigrant families, has seen a surge in undocumented people seeking legal advice since Trump’s election.
A key resource they’re providing are special red cards.
“The goal of this is having protection and knowing that you have constitutional rights. So under the 5th and 4th amendment we have those rights and we also share that with the community because they also have those rights,” said Ismael Cruz of Todec.
The cards are meant to be handed out by an undocumented person to an immigration agent if they approached.
It reads, “I do not wish to speak with you based on my 5th amendment rights.” and “I do not give you permission to enter my home based on my 4th amendment rights.“
They’re taking the initiative to go out into the community to share these red cards with as many people as they can.
We followed along with Todec as they did a “Know Your Rights” presentation at a local farm. What we found was a community of undocumented people who were completely unaware of their rights.
“Did you know you had these rights before today?” Allie asked farmworkers.
The farmworker answered, “No, I had many doubts. One always has the fear of how to react in these cases and well now we know. What can we do to defend ourselves?”
“I didn’t know that in those kinds of situations where you might have some kind of tension, how do you know what you need to do now?” another farmworker said.
But do these rights apply to undocumented immigrants?
“Absolutely they do apply they apply to anybody who’s living in the United States,” said Joe Luna, an immigration attorney.
“Do you think there’s an opportunity for immigration officers to take advantage of undocumented people who don’t know their rights,” Allie asked Luna.
Luna answered, “So unfortunately, there is a situation where you’re caught in the crossfire because of these nasty deportations right you just have to know your rights.”
One thing holds families like our local farmworkers high during a time of uncertainty, knowing their rights.
“Knowledge is very powerful, especially in times like this cause sometimes we’re also not informed about what’s going on or what’s going to happen,” the farmworker said.
