🚨 Fear in the Fields: Farm Workers Hide from ICE Agents in Oxnard
In the strawberry fields of Oxnard, California, rows of migrant workers freeze in fear, crouching between fruit bushes. Their eyes scan the horizon for the dreaded ICE patrol vans that have haunted the region since a series of mass raids began earlier this week.
“Are you from ICE?” a woman wearing a purple bandana asks cautiously. She’s one of thousands of undocumented migrants terrified by the sweeping immigration enforcement actions ordered by President Donald Trump.
Without search warrants, ICE agents have reportedly been denied access to farms but have arrested workers on surrounding streets. On just one day, 35 people were taken into custody across nine different farms in Oxnard.
👥 “They Treat Us Like Criminals”: Migrants Trapped in Hiding
The emotional toll is unbearable. One woman told BBC News she hasn’t left her home or gone shopping since the raids began. “We came here to work and have a better life,” she said. “Now we’re just scared.”
Many of these undocumented workers left children behind in Mexico and have been essential to California’s booming agricultural sector. But now, they feel hunted.
📉 The Domino Effect: Raids Impact Entire Communities
The shockwaves from ICE’s actions are already disrupting local businesses. At Casa Grande Cafe, a family-run Mexican restaurant in Oxnard, just one table is occupied during what used to be the busiest lunch hour.
“No one came in today,” says Paula Pérez. “We’re all on edge.”
Her daughter, Raquel Pérez, adds, “This is worse than Covid. At least then, people still came to work. Now they’re too scared to leave their homes.”
Just across the street, federal agents attempted to enter Boskovich Farms, a major vegetable and herb facility. The result? Empty parking lots, silent fields, and stalled farm operations.
This massive workforce has sustained America’s produce supply for decades — strawberries, lettuce, avocados — all picked by hands that now fear stepping outside.
📹 Captured on Camera: Raids in Real Time
One Instagram video from Tuesday shows an undocumented migrant fleeing across a foggy Oxnard field, chased by agents on foot and in trucks. The man is eventually arrested between rows of crops, a haunting image that has gone viral across social media.
🚛 Trucks Sit Idle, Produce Goes Unpicked
Tractors, trucks, and machinery sit silent in farms up and down the Central Coast. Workers are simply not showing up. And without them, food can’t be picked, packed, or shipped.
“If strawberries aren’t picked, nothing goes to the packing houses,” said Raquel Pérez. “No trucks. No food. No business.”
💔 “I Have to Work”: Migrants Caught Between Survival and Deportation
Óscar, an undocumented strawberry vendor from Tlaxcala, Mexico, says sales have plummeted. “Fewer people are buying. They’re afraid.”
Despite having U.S.-born children, he says he’s terrified to finish his immigration paperwork because ICE now waits outside courthouses.
“I’m scared, but I can’t stop working. I have to feed my family,” he says.
🗣️ Trump Acknowledges Fallout: “Our Farmers Are Being Hurt”
Speaking Thursday, President Trump noted that mass deportations are affecting agriculture. “They’ve worked for these farms for 20 years. They’re not citizens, but they’re great,” he said.
He floated a controversial proposal: allow some migrants to work only if employers sponsor them — and they first leave the country.
The effects of the ICE raids go far beyond deportation numbers. They are threatening the stability of the U.S. food supply chain, crippling local economies, and spreading fear among thousands who came to America in search of hope.
As communities like Oxnard reel from the chaos, one truth becomes clear — America’s farms cannot survive without its undocumented labor force. And unless immigration policy changes, the price will be paid not just by workers, but by all Americans at the grocery store.
