ICE raids, rhetoric make America view farmworkers 'as criminals again

Crackdowns by federal immigration agents have made communities more hostile towards minority farm workers, according to a new report. Farm owners, meanwhile, fear they'll soon be unable to fill labor-intensive farming jobs that  Americans no longer want. The report, from two Cornell University agriculture and labor experts, draws on surveys with New York dairy farmers beginning in late February, and largely mirrors concerns voiced by farm owners, economists, and agriculture and workers' rights groups about the detrimental effects the Trump administration's immigration policies would have on rural communities.Farmers "do not really know what to expect from the Trump administration, as well as from Congress regarding enforcement," the report reads. "This level of unpredictability is causing a sense of fear and nervousness for farm employers, workers and the community at large."