Whenever I hear family debates about immigration, they tend to focus on national security and political issues. These debates are missing a key factor in the actual impact of immigration reform that is rarely mentioned. I am speaking, of course, about agriculture. Farmers rely on immigrants, and that includes illegal immigrants, as labor for harvesting crops. Seventy one percent of farm workers are immigrants and almost half are working in the United States illegally.
Many states grow crops that are sold in the United States and exported around the world. California, in particular, would suffer if Donald Trump maintains his hardline stance on immigration that he put forward during his campaign. The United States relies on its production of fruits, vegetables and nuts. California is the United States’ sole producer — meaning they produce more than 99 percent — of almonds, artichokes, dates, figs, grapes and raisins, kiwi, olives, Clingstone peaches, pistachios, dried plums, pomegranates, sweet rice and walnuts. It also produces 94 percent of the country’s broccoli and leads the country in many other produce products. One of the reasons that California’s recent drought was so critical and newsworthy was because of the state’s importance in the industry.
Trump’s administration has released orders to ramp up the deportation of illegal immigrants living in America. Taking all political and ethical questions out of the debate over deporting illegal immigrants, it is undeniable that its economic effects would be wide ranging and potentially catastrophic. The policy, if implemented immediately, would be similar to a 50 percent involuntary reduction of the agricultural labor force. Those jobs would need to be filled immediately. Farming is not a highly competitive labor market and expansion and contraction cannot happen over a long period of time. The work is extremely demanding, making jobs undesirable, but the products of farming are essential to life.
Losing 50 percent of consultants in the labor force would be inconvenient for the companies they work for and the organizations that benefit from their service. But "inconvenience" is not an accurate way to describe large portions of the country losing all of their produce overnight. Fruit, vegetables and nuts are crucial to our daily lives because they contribute to a healthy diet. Losing those crops would deplete our access to necessary vitamins that fill those foods. In this potential future, vitamin deficiencies would no longer be a joke.
Whatever your political stance on immigration might be, if you are anti-scurvy, then you might want to rethink your position.