Edgar Lee
In recent weeks, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has carried out mass arrests of farm workers, particularly targeting those with close relation to organized labor.
On May 2, ICE agents pulled over a migrant bus and placed 14 farm workers at Lynn-Ette & Sons Farms in custody. Lynn-Ette, based out of Kent, New York, has a long history of working to roll back labor laws, and has had scuffles with United Farm Workers of America (UFW) organizers.
In 2022, the majority of workers at Lynn-Ette signed in favor of UFW representation. Several of the arrested workers had been active in unionization efforts, and one had publicly spoken in favor of joining the UFW. According to anonymous sources, the ICE agents had a list of most of the workers who were on the bus.
Also in May, three migrant farm workers were deported to Mexico after nine were detained in Vermont last month. Their lead attorney, Brett Stokes, stated that the deportations were done “without due process, in clear violation of their rights.”
The terror of the brazen detainment and targeting of migrant workers has clear effects on them, with one undocumented dairy worker telling Seven Days Vermont that “Some are too terrified to leave home even to buy food,” but also that “These arrests motivate us to keep fighting for our rights.”
These arrests come after prominent farm worker union leader and immigrant rights activist Alfredo “Lelo” Juarez Zeferino was arrested by ICE on March 25, who remains in custody.
Farm labor is not protected by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), meaning that farm workers get few unionization rights, resulting in pitiful wages, hours, and working conditions. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that in 2024 only 1.5% of workers in the agriculture industry were represented by unions. Both Lelo and the UFW have been advocates in favor of placing farm workers under the protection of the NLRA.
The migrant bus being pulled over by ICE agents in New York. Credit: @CarleighMinor1
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