New data found drop in California labor workforce due to immigration enforcement

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A new study from UC Merced found federal illegal immigration enforcement is disrupting California labor. The report shows a 3.1% decline in the state's private workforce.

Action News spoke with Gabriel, an undocumented farmworker who has lived in the United States for close to 30 years. He picks tomatoes for a living; we met at his home in Fresno County.

He was not afraid to speak on camera because he wanted to share the impacts he's seen firsthand.

"I know that I have value, and I know all I need is my citizenship. I've worked here for so many years. I've done everything like a good citizen. I've paid my taxes. I have property. The one thing I don't have is my papers," says Gabriel.

Gabriel tells us immigration raids under the Trump Administration have caused his coworkers to stay home at rates he's never seen in the past.

He says that last Thursday, immediately following a raid at a Camarillo cannabis farm, most were out for days. Already, he's seen tomatoes and other crops start to go bad.

"That tomato is already rotting. No one is going to pick it," says Gabriel.

Researchers from UC Merced wanted to see if accounts, like Gabriel's, heard statewide, could be analyzed in the form of data.

So, they looked at a snapshot of time specifically following the week when National Guard troops were deployed in Los Angeles.

What they found was a staggering 3.1% drop in the private sector workforce in California, including both citizens and non-citizens. That's compared to a half percent increase across the rest of the country.

Dr. Edward Flores with UC Merced says a drop like this is extremely rare.

"The other times in which there was a similar decline in private sector work were during the first two months of the COVID pandemic, as well as the first year of the great recession," says Dr. Flores.

Broken down by race, Latinos saw the greatest decline of 5.6%.

Researchers say these patterns likely won't change as long as enforcement efforts continue to escalate.

"We can expect to see continuing trends here in the state," says Dr. Flores.

Just last Friday, a federal judge ruled to limit agents' ability to detain people without reasonable suspicion in the Los Angeles area.

A similar order has been in place for the Central Valley region since April.

Now, Dr. Flores expects state lawmakers will also consider their own policies that focus on California's economy in light of this data.

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