The Strawberries Died First

The strawberries died first.

Lisa Tate had walked her rows a hundred times before, but this was the first time she felt like she was walking a graveyard. “If 70% of your workforce doesn’t show up, 70% of your crop doesn’t get picked,” she said, dragging her boot through the mulch. “And strawberries—they rot fast.”

The ICE vans had come through Ventura County the week before. Unmarked, mostly. Fields that usually hummed with Spanish chatter fell quiet overnight. By morning, most of the crews were gone. Some workers had been there for decades. One hadn’t seen his family in Mexico since 1996. Others just stopped answering their phones.

“We used to worry about sunburn and pests. Now it’s whether anyone will show up at all.”

No one argues anymore about whether the fields need immigrants. That ship sailed years ago. What’s left now is silence. Fewer hands. More rot.

Matt Teagarden, head of the Kansas Livestock Association, doesn’t sugarcoat it: “Essential isn’t a strong enough word. It is some version of an immigrant, maybe not first generation, but second or third, that are just critical to that work.”

For Teagarden’s members, the contingency plan doesn’t involve high-tech robots or policy wonks. It’s more like, Can I get through the weekend with half a crew? Can I milk the cows myself if I need to?

Dean Johnson, who runs an orchard in Michigan, put it simpler. “Sometimes people come out on a day like today… they’ll pick one box. And then they’re gone.”

Out in the fields, the numbers follow the fruit. About 70% of U.S. farmworkers are foreign-born. Half are undocumented. A single ICE raid can remove 300 hands from a field overnight. In California’s Central Valley, a Mexican supervisor who used to run a team of 300 was left with 80.

It’s not just about missing labor. It’s about missing time.

Crops like strawberries, peaches, and bell peppers don’t wait. They blister in the sun. They mold. They die.

“If you miss a two-day window, the season’s gone. That’s the whole margin right there.”

The idea that local labor could fill the gap has already been tested and failed. After Georgia passed HB 87 in 2011, farms suddenly faced 5,000 fewer workers and $140 million in crop losses. Half the harvest was left in the fields. Alabama tried the same. Most Americans hired as replacements walked off the job by lunch.

Washington keeps pitching workarounds. The USDA’s fix? Automation. Medicaid work requirements. Let machines harvest. Let welfare recipients work the land.

Brooke Rollins, Agriculture Secretary, insisted: “There are plenty of workers in America.” She pointed to “34 million able-bodied adults on Medicaid.” But studies show most are already working or exempt. Others lack transportation, training, or interest. Some are caring for children or disabled family. Most aren’t waiting by the phone for a grape-picking job.

Meanwhile, the machines aren’t ready. Delicate crops still need human hands. Most farmers say Americans offered the work tend to last a day, maybe two. Not because they’re lazy. Because the work is punishing.

“We need the labor,” one Central Valley grower said. “We don’t need another press release.”

Where crops fail, another kind of emergency fills the gap.

Pedro Ramos, 37, clears debris near Sylmar. He wraps a bandana over his mouth to block the ash. It doesn’t help much. His gloves are cracked. He’s worn the same pair all year—stitched the thumb back twice with thread from his wife’s sewing kit.

“The truth is that it’s toxic,” he shrugs. “But I need the hours. My rent is due.”

Ramos is undocumented. He’s not alone. A large percentage of post-disaster cleanup crews are, unofficially, second responders. They arrive after the fire trucks. After FEMA. They rip out insulation, tear down drywall, bag up the charred remains of someone else’s life.

“They’re the traveling white blood cells of America,” says labor organizer Saket Soni. “They show up after hurricanes and fires to do the healing. Then they move on to the next wound.”

“You don’t see them in press conferences. But you’d see what happens if they stopped showing up.”

In Florida, that’s exactly what happened. After Hurricane Idalia, a new state immigration law went into effect. Laborers walked off job sites mid-repair. Contractors couldn’t finish roofs. Damage lingered. Insurance stalled. Local officials called it a “disaster after the disaster.”

And where fear spreads, the consequences go beyond labor. They reach into the shadows of public life—into who asks for help, who evacuates, who disappears.

Rosa Lopez, who works in Kern County, says community members freeze when immigration rumors spread. “Some callers are so scared they won’t leave their house unless they absolutely have to.” Shelters go unused. Relief centers stay half-empty. One evacuee told her, “I’d rather risk the fire than ICE.”

The danger isn’t theoretical. In Southern California, a cannabis farm raid left a worker dead. United Farm Workers VP Elizabeth Strater confirmed the casualty. “These are the results,” said Senator Alex Padilla. “It’s people dying.”

Even those with papers hesitate now. “Nobody feels safe when they hear the word ICE,” said Greg Tesch, a grower in Fresno. “Even documented people have undocumented cousins, neighbors, people in the carpool.”

“The fear moves faster than policy.”

And the loss hits more than farms. In rural communities, farms are anchor tenants. They support trucking, processing, repair shops, diners. When a crop goes unpicked, the loss multiplies—through schools, clinics, gas stations.

No one’s found a clean fix. The H‑2A visa system helps, but it’s capped and complex. Farmers say it’s bureaucratic, slow, and expensive. And automation—though promising—is years away from replacing human hands on crops like lettuce or strawberries.

What’s happening now isn’t a labor transition. It’s a labor collapse.

And in the vacuum, the fantasy persists: that Americans will step in. That Medicaid recipients will put down the phone and pick up a shovel. That robots will save the season.

Lisa Tate doesn’t buy it. She saw what happened when the crews left. She watched her fields die in real time. “Most Americans don’t want to do this work,” she said, not angry—just done. “And I fear this has created a tipping point where many will go bust.”

The day ends like it did the one before. Ramos finishes his shift as the sun dips behind scorched hills. He leans his shovel against a trailer and peels off his gloves. They’re damp with sweat and ash. The stitched thumb is coming loose again.

He folds them carefully. Doesn’t toss them. Just tucks them under his arm like something that might still last a little longer.

Tomorrow he’ll be back.

The strawberries won’t.

Bibliography

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