Those who grow much of America’s food say mass deportations would be devastating to the country’s food supply. Damian Trujillo reports.
Millions of people across the United States are bracing for the impact of mass deportations that the incoming Trump administration has promised.
Those who grow much of America's food say the move would be devastating to the country's food supply.
In Monterey County, the fourth largest crop producing county in the nation, the local farm bureau said if there are mass deportations, consumers are going to pay more at the grocery store, whether they live in California, Texas or Kansas.
"It will absolutely impact food prices at the consumer level," Monterey County Farm Bureau CEO Norm Groot said. "If it impacts local and nationwide supplies, that will have a price increase. Moreover, if we have to import more, that includes additional transportation costs and other costs that go along with those imports."
Agriculture in Monterey County is a $4.4 billion industry with an estimated 55,000 farm workers harvesting crops every year – many of them undocumented.
Growers were alarmed to hear of the plan for mass deportations once the Trump administration takes office because it could mean most of their workforce could vanish.
"It's interesting that four years ago during the pandemic, they were essential," Groot said. "And now all of a sudden we’re looking at it from a different perspective and trying to understand how that dynamic has changed."
The farm bureau is teaming up with the county and other stakeholders to form a task force to be proactive in addressing the local concerns.
"We’re here in the Salinas Valley, and what we do is we feed the world," Monterey County Supervisor Chris Lopez said.
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Lopez said local families are being warned to prepare for the worst.
"We’re making sure to get good information out, whether it's a know your rights card, packets to help families fill out those power of attorneys and power of decision making over their children should they be separated," he said. "All those pieces."
