() As the Trump administration continues its crackdown on immigrants who entered the United States illegally, immigration enforcement operations targeting workplaces have expanded to fruit and vegetable farms in several regions of California.

Unions representing farmworkers report that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have conducted enforcement raids at farms throughout the state, targeting migrant workers who studies show have become the lifeblood of the nation’s farming industry, which contributed more than $1 trillion to the U.S. gross domestic product in 2020.

Farmworker union officials have called on President Donald Trump to intervene and halt farm raids immediately. However, Trump blamed the Biden administration’s stance on immigration for infiltrating industries like farming with lawbreakers.

Trump wrote on Truth Social that the nation’s “great farmers” and those working in the hotel and hospitality industry are now complaining about his administration’s “very aggressive policy on immigration” that is causing farms and hotels alike to lose “very good and longtime workers.”

“This is not good,” Trump wrote. “We must protect our Farmers but get the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA. Changes are coming!”

How many immigrant farmworkers are there in the United States?

The Department of Homeland Security has not confirmed that workplace immigration enforcement operations have specifically targeted California farms but acknowledged that such operations are ongoing.

A DHS spokesperson told that workplace enforcement efforts are meant to protect workers from exploitation and human trafficking. The agency said that many times, workers are trafficked into the U.S. and forced to work in unsafe conditions and are exploited by employers.

“These operations not only protect American workers but also illegal aliens,” the spokesperson said. “President Trump will not allow criminals to abuse and exploit workers for profit.”

The Center for Migration Studies reports that 86% of agricultural workers in the United States are foreign-born and that 45% of all migrant workers, roughly 283,000, are in the U.S. illegally.

However, a large number of foreign-born farmworkers enter the U.S. under the H-2A Temporary Agricultural Worker Program, which allows immigrants to remain in the United States for up to eight months to help meet the labor needs of farms. The number of migrants here through that program more than doubled between 2010 and 2019, the Center for Migration Studies reported, jumping from 79,000 requests in 2010 to 258,000 in 2019.

One-third of the nation’s farmworkers are located in California, according to the California Farm Bureau, which issued a statement of support for farm employees in the wake of reports of increased farm enforcement missions being conducted. The New York Times, citing federal data, reported that the Central Valley of California produces 25% of the nation’s food supply, which is worth approximately $17 billion annually.

Those production levels led the state farm bureau to surmise that without farmworkers, much of the operations involved in planting, cultivating and harvesting crops would not take place. But again, research conducted by the University of California, Merced shows that about half of California’s 255,700 farmworkers are in the U.S. illegally. But to farm bureau officials, the immigration status of farmworkers does not limit their value to the state’s farming landscape.

“Farm employees are not just workers—they are partners in this industry,” Bryan Little, the senior director of policy advocacy at the state farm bureau, said. “They are people with families, dreams, and an incredible work ethic that keeps food on tables across America. We understand the uncertainty some might feel right now, and we want to be absolutely clear: California’s farmers stand with you.”

Workplace enforcement raids raise concerns among migrant advocates

The United Farm Workers Union reports it is aware of multiple immigration enforcement operations targeting farmworkers in California this week alone. The union called efforts to “terrorize and separate” farmworker communities an attack on California and a dangerous waste of resources.

In one case, video footage published by a local ABC affiliate showed federal agents chasing migrant workers through a field during a workforce immigration enforcement raid in which dozens of workers were detained by federal agents.

The organization also called on Trump to halt farm raids immediately and urged California lawmakers to act and seek transparency in the enforcement operations underway. It also called out Trump for characterizing many agricultural workers as those who have been charged or convicted of committing crimes. The raids are taking place as California and immigration have remained in the spotlight amid anti-ICE protests taking place in Los Angeles.

However, union officials remain committed to protecting migrant workers in agriculture.

“These workers who feed us are not criminals,” the union said in a statement on Thursday in response to Trump’s Truth Social post. “Most have been here for decades. We need to protect the workers here from being hunted down in the fields. If President Trump is in charge, these raids against farms will stop immediately.”

Last month, U.S. Reps. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., and Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., reintroduced the bipartisan Farm Workforce Modernization Act that is designed to reform the H-2A visa program, which would assist migrant workers in being more easily able to obtain visas to help fill agricultural jobs in the U.S.

Yet as immigration crackdowns continue, advocates for the immigrant community said there are not enough resources for migrants to protect themselves from being targeted by federal agencies like ICE and Homeland Security.

Kathleen Bush-Joseph, a policy analyst with the Migration Policy Institute, said that even though many immigrants are attempting to follow proper channels to work in the U.S., including in agricultural roles, they are fearful about ongoing federal immigration enforcement efforts. She said the needs of migrants requiring legal assistance with work authorization and visas far outweigh the resources being made available to them.

“I think this reflects the larger picture where Trump’s moves not only affect only the unauthorized immigrant population but also people who do have visas, who are green-card holders, and we’ve seen reports of U.S. citizens being arrested,” she told .

“So just the way that the system is set up doesn’t address employers’ needs, so they’ve turned to unauthorized immigrants, some of which is leading to some of these difficult situations.”