this post was submitted on 30 Jun 2025
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The reason is simple: an increase in immigration enforcement, including high-profile ICE raids, shook Texas farm workers to their core. The news filtered fast that workers—regardless of legal status—chose safety over a salary.

Farmers, who had been working with their crews for decades, described the loss as “devastating” and “unprecedented.” This is alarming as most farms are founded upon immigrant labor, both legal and illegal, creating a domino effect for the food system as a whole.

. . . When farm workers vanish, the effects are felt far beyond the fields. Livestock is untended, crops go unpicked, food production declines, and food prices dramatically increase. In Texas alone, where specialty vegetables and fruits must be hand-picked, worker shortages jeopardize entire harvest seasons.

This results in fewer foods on grocery store shelves, higher prices for families nationwide, and a greater reliance on imports. Threads on Reddit and YouTube are already predicting price hikes and empty produce shelves.

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[–] PhilipTheBucket@ponder.cat 107 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago) (9 children)

Phase 2: Prison labor

It also carries the side “benefit” of getting farm owners (and, indirectly, anyone who cares about being able to eat food) complicit in and supportive of the “person who didn’t do anything wrong -> detention” pipeline as it ramps up and expands.

You heard it here first.

[–] ragepaw@lemmy.ca 31 points 20 hours ago (3 children)

I have been predicting the return of slavery wide scale via prisoners for years.

[–] frustrated_phagocytosis@fedia.io 30 points 20 hours ago

It's already been going on, now it will just increase in scale. The ICE detainees are being used for labor in the detention centers for fuck's sake! At least prisoners are directly exempt in the law for being convicted of a crime (however corrupted the concept might be), detainees waiting for processing aren't convicted of shit.

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 12 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

Predicting? I mean.....you're a little late, bub. That shit's been happening since the 80s. Blame Reagan.

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[–] FartMaster69@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago)

It’s not hard to predict something currently happening will continue to happen.

[–] fartographer@lemmy.world 25 points 19 hours ago (2 children)

No, that's phase 3. Phase 2 is foreclosures, bankruptcy, and buying at insanely discounted rates. THEN it's ~~slave~~prison labor.

[–] rumba@lemmy.zip 4 points 13 hours ago

You're still off by 1, before you can have prison labor they're going to have to make disagreeing with the government punishable by forced labor. Then they're going to farm all of the social media and lock everyone up.

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 2 points 16 hours ago

I thought that was phases 3 then 4, phase 2 was building debtors prisons,

[–] Agent641@lemmy.world 8 points 19 hours ago

Phase 3: Expansion of laws to criminalise any vauge behaviour the govt decides is unacceptable.

When everyone is guilty, you can extort the funded class to look the other way and exploit the unfunded class by imprisonment and forced Labor. The legal system will be saturated by arrests for 'disorderly conduct', 'resistimg arrest' and 'anti-governmemt activities' faster than the courts can keep up with tossing out bogus charges. If you have money,you post bail and try really hard to behave yourself and not rock the boat. If you don't have money, it's off to the work farms for you.

[–] Aceticon@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago)

Even "better", only people with the right connections will have access to this slave labour, so only very wealthy or very Fascist farmers will get their harvests harvested.

Win, win, win for Fascism in the US.

[–] fodor@lemmy.zip 4 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

I heard it in The Shawshank Redemption first.

[–] PhilipTheBucket@ponder.cat 5 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) (1 children)
[–] Agent641@lemmy.world 5 points 19 hours ago

Can't a man cut the heads off parking metres in the privacy of his own town without being treated like some sort of criminal?!

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 3 points 19 hours ago

Actually, I think I heard it first in the 1200s when Genghis Khan had similar concepts. He also would raze the village, kill the men and children, and rape the women......but give it time. Maybe that's one of the provisions within "the big beautiful bill". Maybe it's coming next year.

.........I don't know if I should indicate that I'm joking. It's the kind of joke where you laugh, but also it's a nervous laugh because you no longer feel safe in your own country, and it REALLY feels like we need a new modern civil war to take out the trash like we did 200 years ago.

[–] Lemminary@lemmy.world 2 points 14 hours ago

Don't forget the chillun, unless they only yearn for the mines... ☹

[–] N0t_5ure@lemmy.world 58 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

I wonder how many of these farmers in Texas voted for Trump? My guess is the majority of them. You reap what you sow.

[–] UniversalBasicJustice@lemmy.dbzer0.com 41 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Actually this year is "Nobody reaps what you've sown and it rots in the field" but that's not as succinct.

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[–] rekabis@lemmy.ca 37 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

They voted for this.

Let them figure it out.

If you own property, start a garden. You’re likely going to need it.

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 5 points 13 hours ago

" you vote for what i campaigned, on deal with it"-trump

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[–] halferect@lemmy.world 31 points 15 hours ago (2 children)

I'm sure there are plenty of Republicans willing to take a job for shit pay that is back breaking and dangerous right?

[–] lurch@sh.itjust.works 21 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Finally the jerbs they wanted arrived. So lucky. /s

[–] halferect@lemmy.world 5 points 14 hours ago

It really is wonderful, I could only wish to have the government give me my dream job, and these Republicans just get handed a golden opportunity, it's like Charlie and the golden ticket, I will go down and congrat them on the big winnings and bestest deals while they are knee deep in pig shit

[–] Glitterbomb@lemmy.world 2 points 1 hour ago

Good news, Texans: the tailor that makes bootstraps didn't vanish overnight

[–] lettruthout@lemmy.world 29 points 21 hours ago (3 children)

So that was written by AI, right?

[–] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 11 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

It really felt like it, but it has a human’s name on the byline, fwiw. And there were some “rounded corners” that made me think a person edited it a fair bit.

[–] WanderingThoughts@europe.pub 8 points 15 hours ago

human’s name on the byline

In a different magazine they used human names for their AI. Turned out the profile pics came from ThesePeopleDoNotExist

[–] rimu@piefed.social 5 points 15 hours ago

Disappointing to see such slop so heavily upvoted just because it fits what people want to see.

[–] BananaIsABerry@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 hour ago

You telling me that "Animal planet HQ" might not be a reliable political news source?

[–] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 21 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

It's too bad that I don't give a fuck about farmers who voted to arrest their workforce. Put on a cowboy hat and harvest your produce yourself. This is what you wanted.

If you didn't notice, I also hate cowboys.

[–] funkyfarmington@lemmy.world 3 points 1 hour ago

I thought I was the only one who thought this. I've never met someone wearing a cowboy hat who had integrity.

[–] Dead_or_Alive@lemmy.world 17 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

Mark my words Republicans will turn to using convict labor to harvest crops before they ever turn on Trump or admit any faults.

Step1: Round up undocumented immigrants and criminals.

Step2: Put them in prison for “crimes”.

Step3: Profit! Lease them to farms for $1 a day. Since slavery is legal if you are incarcerated. Republicans are going to build an entire underclass of criminals who will do these jobs.

Bonus: None of the brown people or criminals will be able to vote because they are now felons. Farmers will cry and vote Republican if anyone even suggests doing away with the prison industrial system.

[–] Catma@lemmy.world 9 points 3 hours ago

So slavery with more steps?

[–] lurch@sh.itjust.works 15 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

inb4 they make children and prisoners do it

[–] IAmNorRealTakeYourMeds@lemmy.world 2 points 4 hours ago (2 children)

why use prisoners? they are detaining countless immigrants, they might put them on forced labour.

so Immigrants will have to work the fields for no pay.

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 24 minutes ago

Yeah, immigrant prisoners.

[–] Kit@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 34 minutes ago

Hang on, I've seen this one before.

[–] N0t_5ure@lemmy.world 11 points 19 hours ago (1 children)
[–] Sturgist@lemmy.ca 10 points 1 hour ago
[–] DarkFuture@lemmy.world 4 points 1 hour ago

Hope it hurts.

[–] madlian@lemmy.cafe 4 points 19 hours ago (2 children)

Good. Let them starve. Maybe they’ll do something about it.

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 10 points 19 hours ago (4 children)

Um......who's "them" in this scenario? Because if the farms shut down, that means EVERYBODY starves. Can't feed the public if there's no food supply.

[–] some_designer_dude@lemmy.world 10 points 19 hours ago

My guess is “them” = Americans? This (for now) is largely a “them” problem and it’s unlikely anyone will really push back until most people lose their bread and / or circuses. It makes sense. Most people want to just “be” and live peacefully, and will avoid disruptions until they can’t.

I hope they find a way to correct their government before things get to starvation though.

[–] fodor@lemmy.zip 4 points 18 hours ago (2 children)

Do you think that the only food available in Texas is that which is grown in Texas?

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[–] Olhonestjim@lemmy.world 4 points 1 hour ago

Texas can survive all on its own!

[–] spoke0thedevil@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

Did anyone else get ai vibes while reading the article? Idk if it's just me but the writing seemed so generic like something chat gpt spits out.

[–] Neps@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 19 hours ago
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