U.S. farm industry groups want President-elect Donald Trump to spare their sector from his promise of mass deportations, which could upend a food supply chain heavily dependent on immigrants in the United States illegally.

So far Trump officials have not committed to any exemptions, according to interviews with farm and worker groups and Trump’s incoming “border czar” Tom Homan.

Nearly half of the nation’s approximately 2 million farm workers lack legal status, according to the departments of Labor and Agriculture, as well as many dairy and meatpacking workers.

  • ChicoSuave@lemmy.world
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    28 days ago

    Folks, here’s what’s happening: fiefdoms and minor lords are the final goal of the GOP. Farmers will have workers who are protected from deportation as long as they are in the farmer’s good graces. Likewise, H1B visas already operate like this - as long as you are loyal and useful you are protected from the sanctioned cruelty of the justice system.

    Right wing thought does not care or support democracy. They don’t want people to be free so much as “free”. They want to control other people. It doesn’t matter what the laws are when it comes to themselves - they exist outside that system. They have their own country club system. The right wants petty tyrants.

  • zbyte64@awful.systems
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    28 days ago

    The whole point is they want you to cut a “deal” with the right people. Appealing to their conscience isn’t going to work.

  • Red_October@lemmy.world
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    27 days ago

    Tough shit. You fucks voted for him, this is what you get. You’d think farmers of all people wouldn’t need to be told “You reap what you sow” but here we fucking are.

  • Admiral Patrick@dubvee.org
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    28 days ago

    “The only moral abortion is my abortion”.

    “The only moral undocumented workers are my undocumented workers”

    Notice a pattern here?

    • enkille@lemmy.world
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      28 days ago

      They’re not looking at the big picture. When child labor laws get repealed they can hire 10-year-olds at the same cost as undocumented workers. Having 10-year-olds running heavy farm equipment also mitigates abortion bans on the back end.

        • rayyy@lemmy.world
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          27 days ago

          use the immigrants they round up as actual slave labor

          Of course. It’s a “smart” business move. Lock up folks in those profitable private prisons then farm out prison labor to work the fields. It’s a win, win financially where the rich make even more money.

      • Pistcow@lemm.ee
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        28 days ago

        Don’t forget the blacks. The blacks will be jailed for being black and then they we have slavery with extra steps!

        • cmbabul@lemmy.world
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          27 days ago

          Hey now it won’t just be black folks, all sorts of non white shades of people will be arrested to work the fields against their will. Hell there will probably be some whites in there too, the ones infected by the ‘woke’ can’t be allowed to roam the streets spreading their blasphemy

    • Carvex@lemmy.world
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      28 days ago

      They don’t care that they’re hypocrites, it’s what makes them right wing conservatives almost by definition. That and lacking empathy, having main character syndrome, and generally being racist or bigoted.

  • rivenb@lemmy.world
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    27 days ago

    Maintain the right to keeping slaves. They tried this awhile ago. It’s part of their culture.

  • enbyecho@lemmy.world
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    28 days ago

    This is complicated and it’s hard to summarize, but here’s what I think we all should do:

    1. Support small farms by shopping at farmer’s markets and/or buying direct. I know it’s not always easy to pay the (sometimes) higher cost but know that your money is going to families and fair wages, not corporations. Small farms often do depend on illegal workers but the more you buy from them the better the chance they’ll be able to cover their absence or even get them on visas. And - pro tip - there are ways to reduce the costs**
    2. Wherever possible, plant your own gardens. Do this collectively to maximize yield for any one individual’s effort. Take over unused urban spaces and or find or found community gardens if you don’t have space.
    3. Let the leopards feast

    ** 1. Buying direct means a shorter supply chain and thus much fresher produce which is nutritionally denser and lasts longer 2. Buy only what’s in season and what farms have more of - they will usually discount 3. Make friends with farms and/or volunteer some time and you will be blessed with free veggies 4. Go right at the end of market and ask for anything vendors want to get rid of - there are almost always things that won’t keep and which they’ll sell for much less or even give away.

    • kent_eh@lemmy.ca
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      28 days ago

      Buy only what’s in season

      That gets a lot easier the further south you happen to be.

      Not a lot of locally grown fruit and veggies in season for the next 6 months up here in the snowing latitudes.

      • enbyecho@lemmy.world
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        28 days ago

        Not a lot of locally grown fruit and veggies in season for the next 6 months up here in the snowing latitudes.

        Oh how we’ve lost touch with our food :(

        Root vegetables and winter squash are available all winter. Carrots will store for a year. Butternut and similar squashes almost as long. Beets, onions, cabbage… Potatoes less so but still 6-9 months or longer. Right at this moment I’m eating some very fresh blackberries that freeze perfectly along with some pears that I picked over a month ago and which will last probably until January. Later today I’m going to make a nice stew using some canned tomatoes, frozen garlic scapes and a bunch of other random things none of which were harvested recently.

        Cole crops will grow pretty well even in weather well below freezing - e.g. kale, turnips, cabbage, etc. A good frost cover (remay/agribon/old blanket) will help greatly.

        • kent_eh@lemmy.ca
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          28 days ago

          Carrots will store for a year. Butternut and similar squashes almost as long. Beets, onions, cabbage… Potatoes less so but still 6-9 months or longer

          Obviously, but that’s not fresh, in-season fruit and vegatables, which is what I was specifically addressing.

          • enbyecho@lemmy.world
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            27 days ago

            Why do you need a constant supply of fresh, in-season fruit and "vegatables?

  • Diplomjodler@lemmy.world
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    28 days ago

    Deporting half the farm workers is going to do wonders for inflation, for sure. I’m sure all the people who voted for Trump because of “the economy” will be thrilled.

    • islands@lemmy.cafe
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      28 days ago

      Couple this with his stupid ass tariffs (which he doesn’t understand even a tiny bit) and we’re going to see massive Trumpflation. It’s going to a riot. Probably literally.

      • Sweetpeaches69@lemmy.world
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        27 days ago

        I just hope that when that happens, people don’t burn the cities. The cities did not vote for this.

        The small towns, and the farmers did. I hope people remember that.

    • TheTimeKnife@lemmy.world
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      27 days ago

      Yeah, this could cause a huge spike in food prices along with everything else. If that happens, its going to hurt a lot of people who cant even afford current food costs.

      • HellsBelle@sh.itjust.worksOP
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        27 days ago

        Especially when one considers that food prices alone have already increased over 20% from pre-pandemic pricing and wages have definitely not kept pace.

  • Zachariah@lemmy.world
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    28 days ago

    Well, they could pay for the process (and probably make a few donations to speed it up) to make these workers citizens.