"100%" don't show up to work because of raids, farmer says

DONNA, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Rio Grande Valley farmers say they are feeling the pain of having no workers show up due to the continued ICE raids.

Farmer Nick Billman from Donna says the raids have caused people to not go to work, leaving farmers without any help. He says things started getting worse just weeks ago.

“I would say within the last three weeks it started to slow but this last week has been huge," Billman said. "That is when it has been zero people wanting to come out and be exposed to be able to be picked up whether they are legal or illegal.”

However, there is some optimism as President Donald Trump acknowledged that his immigration policies are affecting U.S. farmers and says he’s considering an executive order to help farmers stay afloat. This, as Billman reports, is zero workers on his farm for the past week.

“One hundred percent, one hundred percent don’t want to come out of fear of being picked up even if they are doing it the right way," Billman said.

Billman was left alone, cleaning the debris from Thursday night’s storm. He says people are afraid to show up to work and believes the country’s food supply could be impacted if this continues.

“It could be to the point where we lose our planting and having the ground ready and even then why plan if we cannot even harvest," the farmer said. "My family and I can harvest by hand ourselves but the amount we need in order to cover that cost of growing we have to have much broader personnel than just family hands-on.”

Billman says migrants help maintain and prepare the land for planting taking on some of the heaviest work. He says ICE raids have farmers like him worried as well as they do not want to get into trouble just because of who they hire.

“We don’t ask people for papers as it is not our job," Billman said. "If someone is willing to work we’re gonna give them a 1098 form, they signed up on it, they gave paid and whether they pay their taxes that is their responsibility. We are worried that we are going to scrutiny over it if they come raid our fields as we don’t know whose legal or not because we don’t ask that.”

Billman and other farmers say reform is the best solution to protect the country’s food supply. The Texas Farm Bureau also released a statement on the matter, "Farm employees work hard every day to help produce healthy, American-grown food. An adequate workforce in U.S. Agriculture is a continual challenge that must be addressed and resolved….. We look forward to working with the Trump Administration and Congress on solutions that provide a legal and stable workforce."

Billman invites Washington politicians to his ranch to see the realities they are facing without this vital workforce and hopes a solution is offered soon.

“Instead of this chase, lets give incentives for these people that are immigrating to our country like the Brazeros program," Billman said. "Incentives for these immigrants to come through, pay their taxes and everybody is safe, vetted, and it would work much better that way.”