The strawberries are still ripening under the sun in Santa Maria, but the atmosphere in the fields is anything but calm.
Following a sudden policy reversal by President Donald Trump, farmworkers across California’s Central Coast are preparing for renewed immigration raids targeting agricultural job sites.
Many say they are experiencing fear, silence, and confusion, while still showing up to work out of economic necessity.
“Mis compañeros se han sentido con miedo tienen sus hijos,” said one strawberry fieldworker, who asked not to be named.
(“My coworkers are scared. They have children. It’s terrible to think they could be taken and have to leave their children behind.”)
Last week, the worker said some people simply didn’t come to work at all.
“Algunos no vinieron por temor pero la gente necesita el dinero para comer, para pagar la renta y pues se arriesgan,” he said.
(“Some didn’t come in because they were scared but people need money to eat, to pay rent, so they take the risk.”)
According to The Washington Post, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) held a nationwide call with agency leadership Monday morning, instructing agents across 30 field offices, including those in California, to resume full-scale immigration enforcement at farms, hotels, and restaurants.
The change came just days after President Trump initially said agricultural workers would be exempt from such raids.
Hazel Davalos, co-executive director of CAUSE (Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy), says her team has been working around the clock to respond.
“We’re a regional organization,” she explained, “and so we were in touch with our members at nine different farms in the city of Oxnard, where ICE attempted to gain entry. We’re also in touch with farmworkers here in Santa Maria.”
On Tuesday of last week, Davalos says 35 farmworkers were detained in Oxnard alone, a number that could have been much higher had it not been for the rapid community response.
“Tuesday, we gave rides home to 100 workers, but only 25 were willing to go back the next day,” she said. “The fear is real. A high percentage of workers are afraid of coming back in.”
CAUSE and its partner organizations quickly deployed Rapid Response crews: teams of volunteers trained to monitor ICE activity, pick up workers, and distribute know-your-rights materials.
“We never stopped giving rides to workers. We never stopped sending out crews of folks to patrol in the morning,” Davalos said. “And that work is going to need to continue.”
The renewed enforcement has raised tensions not only among workers, but also among employers.
While some employers have threatened workers with termination if they don’t show up, a practice CAUSE is advising against, others have taken steps to protect their workforce. Davalos said that in Oxnard, several growers physically blocked ICE from entering.
“They parked trucks in front of gates. They made sure workers were parking on the inside. They brought the food trucks that workers go out to at lunch inside the gate. They denied ICE entry,” she explained.
In a statement to KSBY News, Claire Wineman, President of the Grower-Shipper Association of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties, wrote, “We support safe and orderly communities and workplaces. We support our members and agriculture’s important employees with accurate and timely information.”
The statement made no direct reference to ICE enforcement or the White House’s reversal.
For the workers in the fields, it’s becoming personal.
“Está mal porque se llevan a la gente, ¿quién les va a venir a trabajar?” the farmworker said.
(“It’s wrong if they take people away, who’s going to work?”)
He gestures toward the rows of strawberry plants.
“Esto de la fresa es muy duro se les va a echar a perder el producto.”
(“Strawberry picking is hard; their product will rot in the fields.”)
Davalos says the broader issue is not just enforcement, but the framing of who these raids are targeting and why.
“What these actions from the Trump administration are showing is that they don’t have warrants for people,” she said. “They’re just indiscriminately attacking immigrant communities like Oxnard and Santa Maria. Anybody they can find to meet politically driven quotas.”
She points to the growing use of plainclothes agents, unmarked vehicles, and even masks, all of which CAUSE considers dangerous.
“We’ve had reports of agents in unmarked vehicles, plain clothes, masked,” Davalos said. “There’s legislation now in California trying to ban ICE agents from wearing masks because it creates real safety risks, not just for immigrants, but for everyone.”
And in the fields, workers like the man we spoke to know how dire their situation is legally, economically, and emotionally. He says he has his papers, but many of his friends don’t. He understands the system may not protect them, but he still believes it’s wrong.
“Venimos a superarnos por la pobreza que hay en México,” he said. “Pero yo digo que están mal en eso.”
(“We come here to better ourselves because of the poverty in Mexico. “But I think what they’re doing is wrong.”)
A training for new volunteers to help monitor ICE activity or support farmworkers is scheduled for Wednesday at 5 p.m. Those interested can contact the Rapid Response Hotline at (805) 870-8855 for more information.
