Heightened immigration enforcement in California has produced widespread fear among immigrant communities, leading many workers to avoid work, school, and public spaces. Large enforcement actions, including an operation in Kern County that arrested 90 people of whom only one had a criminal record, have intensified fear and instability. Labor unions face obstacles as employers sometimes refuse to bargain even after workers win representation elections, undermining collective bargaining. Farmworkers express strong pride in their work, yet employer-driven perceptions demean that pride and perpetuate a mentality that undervalues workers, exacerbating workforce insecurity and eroding protections.
"People are afraid to go to work, people are afraid go to school, people are afraid to go shopping," she said. "It's just a kind of reign of terror that has come upon the community. Kern County, we were the first place that was hit here, in Bakersfield. They arrested 90 people. Of the 90 people that they arrested, only one person had any kind of a criminal record."
"So you have a situation today where labor unions - they organize the workers. Then they win the election, workers are voted for representation, and then the employers just refuse to bargain," she said. "There's an awful lot of pride," she said. "This whole perception that the employers themselves have put out there that somehow a farm worker is below someone's level of competence or someone's level of pride that they have kind of created that mentality. And unfortunately that still sits there."
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