the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Dec 2, 2024
At least half of California’s 162,000 farmworkers are undocumented immigrants. Yet California growers who own the massive farms where these immigrants work are some of Donald Trump’s biggest supporters, despite his promise to carry out mass deportations. This would seem to be a contradiction—why would farm owners support a politician who has promised to deport their workforce?
Perhaps part of the reason is what actually happened during the mass deportation that Trump loves to cite: “Operation Wetback,” from 1954–1956. During those years, officials set up roadblocks and shipped south of the border anyone who looked Mexican—including many thousands of U.S. citizens. They carried out spectacular raids in cities, and even set up a detention camp in Los Angeles’ Elysian Park. Tens of thousands of farmworkers were among those caught up in these raids.
But the farms never ran out of labor. This was because the federal government doubled the numbers of “guest workers” or braceros that it let into the country between 1952 and 1956. These braceros were allowed to enter the U.S. to work for a short term, before they were supposed to go back to Mexico. Those who did not were themselves often caught up in the deportation campaign.
This mass deportation of their workers thus helped the growers, since the braceros were much more controllable than the workers they replaced. After all, the braceros’ very right to be in the U.S. depended on their boss. And the large numbers of undocumented immigrants and Mexican Americans who continued to work in the fields were terrorized into staying in the shadows, staying quiet, and accepting an accelerated rate of exploitation.
Something similar to the bracero program exists today, called the H-2A farmworker program. According to a spokesperson for the United Farm Workers union, this program is “a recipe for exploitation. Employers control nearly every aspect of workers’ lives,” including their right to be in the country—just like they did 75 years ago.
No one can say what the new administration will actually do. But the growers’ support for Trump makes clear that they think any attacks he carries out on immigrants will likely benefit them, not hurt them. And what is good for the bosses will be bad for the workers—not just in the fields, but everywhere.