President Trump has ordered federal agencies to promptly remove all illegal immigrants, provoking speculation and fear that what’s now official U.S. policy will rope in tens of thousands of farmworkers.

Even if farmworkers aren’t deported, they may disappear from the workforce, said Kennewick, Wash.-based farm labor consultant Erik Nicholson, a former national vice president for the United Farm Workers.

“What we’re hearing anecdotally is that workers are reluctant to go to work,” he said. “If this were May or June, we would be having a catastrophe in the fields, in my opinion.”

Trump signed four executive orders Jan. 20 related to illegal immigration. The orders and subsequent press statements from federal agencies stressed securing the border and targeting criminals and gang members.

The order titled ”Securing Our Borders,” however, called for “removing promptly all aliens who enter or remain in violation of federal law.”

“If you take it literally, we don’t want a single illegal in the U.S.,” Worker and Farm Labor Association CEO Enrique Gastelum said. “I can see why it’s provoking a lot of fear.”

The Lacey, Wash.-based association helps farms recruit foreign workers. Although growers and workers are right to be concerned about deportations, Gastelum warned against social-media driven “fear mongering.”

If the Trump administration deports law-abiding workers, Republicans probably will pay a price in two years, he said. “If they go too far, they run the risk of losing the House and Senate,” he said.

Immigrant farmworkers

The U.S. has 11 million illegal immigrants, including 2.6 million in California and 340,000 in Washington, the Department of Homeland Security estimates. The U.S. has 2.4 million farmworkers and 40% are illegal immigrants, the USDA estimates.

The percentage is probably higher on the West Coast, though farmers have no way of knowing, Washington State Tree Fruit Association President Jon DeVaney said.

“If you’re employed, it’s because you showed documents that said you can legally work,” he said. “This an issue farmers can’t really directly address with their workers.

“There’s a lot of concern about how exactly this will end up looking,” DeVaney said. “I think the second Trump administration has already shown it is much better positioned to implement their policies.”

At the confirmation hearing Jan. 23 for agriculture secretary nominee Brooke Rollins, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, asked whether the Trump administration will raid farms and ranches to find illegal immigrants.

“The president has been very clear that this first round (of deportations) will be aimed at those who have committed crimes,” Rollins said.

Durbin persisted. “I just wonder whether we should give fair warning to farmers and ranchers across America that if you have immigrant labor you can expect federal agents to come search your property,” he said.

Rollins said she wasn’t involved in deportation planning. “I believe, sincerely, (Trump) will execute his agenda that he has promised the American people, but will never forget our ag community in so doing,” she said.

Intentions unclear

The Trump administration has yet to clarify its intentions, National Council of Agricultural Employers President and CEO Michael Marsh said. In the void, social media has rushed in, he said. “Everybody has a cell phone.”

A Facebook video of federal agents handcuffing a Hispanic in Sunnyside, Wash., led city officials to hold a press conference Monday to assure residents local authorities weren’t involved. Washington law forbids local police from assisting federal agencies enforcing immigration laws.

“If you’re late paying your utility bill, we’re not going to check your status. We’re going to send you a bill,” Mayor Dean Broersma said.

The White House on Jan. 24 posted a statement boasting of the Trump administration’s first 100 hours in office. The statement linked to media reports about federal agents deporting criminals and gang members.

Under the Biden administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement also posted videos of illegal immigrants being loaded onto airplanes to be flown away. Border agents were active in California far from the Mexican border two weeks before Trump took office, drawing criticism from the United Farm Workers.

Washington State Dairy Federation policy director Jay Gordon said he’s heard concerns, but no definite fallout from Trump’s executive orders. Even if federal agents stay off farms, raiding processing plants would affect farmers, he said.

“My hope is someone tells Trump if they do that, it means wholesale destruction of agriculture, and these are the people who voted for you,” Gordon said.