We sit down for a long-overdue conversation with our friend and Postindustrial Columnist Mark Yonkman, aka “The Rural Whisperer,” to talk about immigration and more.
Mark has been busy lately with matters on his northern Michigan farm, but took a few moments to talk to Postindustrial about how the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown is affecting farmers who rely on immigrant farm workers.
He tells us how ICE agents sometimes loiter outside of farms trying to pick up undocumented farm workers.
“The workers themselves are extremely nervous,” Mark said. “They don’t want to go out; they are afraid they are going to be picked up and deported.”
He also noted that the crackdown has hurt farmers who rely on workers to harvest their crops or milk their cows.
“If a dairy can’t find additional workers, they are just going to close shop and sell the farm,” Mark said.
Be sure to check out the rest of our short conversation to learn more.
