Dairy farmers who once backed President Donald Trump are now expressing deep concern that there may soon be no one left to milk their cows, as his administration intensifies its crackdown on “otherwise law-abiding immigrants in the country illegally,” The Boston Globe reported.
Farmers across Vermont told the Globe that they had supported Trump for his strong stance on border control and immigration enforcement — but are now feeling the consequences firsthand as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents begin targeting their workers.
“All the dairy farmers who voted for Trump were under the impression they weren’t going to come on farms and take our guys,” one farmer said. “It’s happening more than we’d like. It’s scaring the farming community and we’re like, ‘This wasn’t supposed to happen.’”
According to the report, “Farm owners and workers alike in this agricultural region near the Canadian border have been on edge in the month since U.S. Border Patrol officers detained eight Mexican men on Vermont’s largest dairy operation, Pleasant Valley Farms.”
The Globe noted that four of those men have since been deported.
Federal immigration officials insist that they are not specifically targeting Vermont’s $3.6 billion dairy industry, which produces 63 percent of New England’s milk supply. However, recent arrests have sparked growing fears among local farmers about how their businesses can survive without an undocumented labor force.
“I think our farmers are concerned about the well-being of their workers. That’s foremost,” said Vermont’s Secretary of Agriculture. “They’re also concerned if (the workforce) was to go away, who’s going to do the work? Who’s going to milk the cows at 4.a.m?”
Read The Boston Globe article here.
