President Trump's stance on undocumented workers is beginning to worry farmers, especially those in the fruit and vegetable sector, who say it could hurt their businesses by worsening a migrant labor shortage.
According to Bob Boehm, manager of Michigan Farm Bureau's Center for Commodity, Farm and Industry Relations, this has been something that producers in several sectors of agriculture have been facing for several years.
"This really isn't a new concern for those who employ documented immigrant laborers, but it is still a concern," he said. "Legislation is going to have to come up with some sort of viable guest worker program or reform sooner or later."
As the Trump administration has increased its deportation of criminals amongst the millions of illegal immigrants in the country, some farmers are beginning to worry that this could affect the quality of their harvested crops and the efficiency of picking.
Blueberry grower and president of the Michigan Blueberry Growers Cooperative, Bill Fritz of Brookside Farms in Paw Paw, Mich., said he fears that if they crack down on immigrant workers their farm would suffer. Foreign workers are a desperate need in order to get crops picked on time. Brookside hires 600-700 migrants each season.
"The decrease in the number of laborers would definitely hurt our harvest," he said. "With a shortage of help, we would have to purchase more machinery to help with harvest, which would, in turn, not offer the same quality of blueberries as we do with the hand picking method."
The federal H-2A temporary visa program is what several farmers have been using in order to secure their workers and guarantee that their crops will be picked. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, in 2011 there were 276 laborers working on Michigan farms and in 2016 the state saw 3,800—all under the temporary visa program.
"Overall, about 40,000 migrant workers come to Michigan during the harvest season to pick crops," said John Kran, who is on the national legislative council for the Michigan Farm Bureau.
Kran also noted that farmers support border security and don't want criminals or dangerous individuals working on their farms.
"The temporary visa program won't work without a reform," he said.
The pay rate right now for those workers here on a visa is $12.76 per hour by federal law. That's $5.51 higher than the federal minimum wage and $3.86 higher than Michigan's minimum wage.
Boehm also noted that the farm labor shortage was worsened in 2012 when Michigan fruits and vegetables were affected by the freezes. The Farm Bureau is trying to increase the number of international workers from areas of Mexico and farther south, but the age of migrant workers is growing older, not younger.
"It's tough to get some people to work, especially with the aging workforce," said Kran. "Right now, we are in the seed-growing season so we still have time to find the workers that we need."
Picking crops is hard, grueling work that doesn't pay the best by U.S. standards. Most American don't want to pick crops because of that, said Boehm.
Having illegal immigrants picking crops puts both the workers and the farmers in a predicament. Machines aren't able to pick apples, asparagus, tomatoes and other fruits and vegetables, so farmers must rely on workers.
"It's really hard to say right now which way I think the Trump administration will go in regards to immigrant workers," said Fritz. "What we have needed for years is for the legislation to get something going to offer something for those immigrants who have been here for 20 to 30 years and want to continue to work."
Fritz said that as far as he knows, his workers will be there when the start of the berry picking season begins in a month or so.
"People don't realize that immigrant workers do an incredible amount of work here in the U.S. They are farm workers, help with landscaping, concrete work, plaster work, etc." said Fritz. "Without them, this country will be in trouble."