Viewpoint: Immigrants are critical to our local food system. They deserve better.
Opinion by Jennifer Core & Claire Morenon, CISA
Immigration crackdowns, and the resulting protests, have been at the center of the news for the past several weeks – this is a violent, divided moment centering around a highly divisive issue.
It is also a sweet season in the Valley – the height of the growing season is just beginning, and farmers’ markets and farm stands are filling up. These might seem like completely unrelated realities, but they are closely connected by one thing: the deeply skilled, and largely invisible, farm workers who plant, pick, and process the harvest – many of whom are immigrants.
Our work at CISA (Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture) provides a specific lens on the extremely complicated issue of immigration. Agriculture is one of several industries in the United States that would not function without immigrant labor – and that means that every one of us relies on immigrant workers for our food.
Much of the political rhetoric around immigration attempts to render this complicated issue into something simple. It’s common for people to say that they support legal immigration, suggesting folks should just “get in line” to “come here the right way.” The reality is that – with a few exceptions for highly trained workers and family members of U.S. citizens – there is no “line” to get into. Our current immigration system allows for very few pathways to citizenship or long-term legal residency and work authorization.
A great many more immigrants hold an ambiguous status. Many have applied for asylum and received work authorization, but are waiting, sometimes years, for a decision about their asylum application. Some are in proceedings to decide whether they will be deported or granted relief. These people might be counted as “undocumented,” but they are moving through the legal process to determine whether they may be granted secure status.
At CISA, we do not support the status quo. Our vision is of a local food system that provides ample food for our whole community as well as secure livelihoods for everyone who works so hard to grow that food. The Trump administration’s recent actions steer us in the opposite direction.
People with Green Cards are facing deportation orders, humanitarian protections have been summarily revoked, and people are being disappeared to prisons beyond the reach of human rights protections – sometimes due to basic administrative errors. Many people have been detained in Western Mass. in recent months – hardworking people targeted as they leave their homes to go to work, separated indefinitely from their children and communities. The fear resulting from recent immigration action undermines food production, food security, and farm and food businesses.
Anyone who works closely with local farms, as we do at CISA, understands this: Immigrants are woven tightly into our local food system, and the system cannot thrive if they are suffering. Caring about the viability of local farms, about our agrarian landscape, about our vibrant local food system must include advocacy for the skilled and hardworking food and farm workers who hold it up – not just for their labor, but as valued members of our communities.
We call for the pursuit of real and sustained immigration reform that creates a path for stability, safety, and respect for each of them.
By Jennifer Core & Claire Morenon. Jennifer Core is executive director of CISA (Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture). Claire Morenon is the organization’s communications manager.
