Categories: Politics

Idaho dairy farmers to ICE: No room at the inn

Not in my county jail. Dairy farmers in Idaho have sent a letter to their county commissioners in protest of a plan to lease beds in their county jail to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Capital Press reports. A not-yet-signed contract between Jerome County and ICE has drawn protests outside county meetings and the ire of the Idaho Dairymen Association. The farmers are worried that the presence of an ICE holding facility in their community will scare their employees.

A one-percent decrease in productivity could mean $27 million in lost revenue.

Dairy workers are not part of the popular H2-A guest worker program, and a “significant percentage” of Idaho’s dairy farm labor comes from Hispanic workers without legal work status, Bob Naerebout, executive director of the Idaho Dairymen’s Association, told Capital Press.

Though ICE plans to rent 50 beds at a rate of $75 per day, bringing $1.34 million in additional income for the county each year, farmers say the economics don’t work out. Naerebout said a one-percent decrease in productivity could mean $27 million in lost revenue according to an economic analysis by the University of Idaho.

Related Post

The agency’s plans to relocate come amidst reports that deportations are on the rise. But it’s important to note that ICE’s proposed contract doesn’t necessarily represent an expansion in planned detentions. The agency is looking for new digs after nearby Utah County terminated its contract in December 2016. ICE rented 300 beds at the county jail, but officials said a growing population meant they needed to use the entire facility for their own purposes.

It remains to be seen what kind of power the Dairymen’s Association wields in Jerome County. Surely, the dairymen and their employees are holding out hope they’ll be able to freeze ICE out.  

H. Claire Brown
Share
Published by
H. Claire Brown
Tags: immigration

Recent Posts

Grist acquires The Counter and launches food and agriculture vertical

Grist, an award-winning, nonprofit media organization dedicated to highlighting climate solutions and uncovering environmental injustices,…

6 months ago

Is California giving its methane digesters too much credit?

Every year, California dairy farms emit hundreds of thousands of tons of the potent greenhouse…

2 years ago

Your car is killing coho salmon

Highway 7 runs north-south through western Washington, carving its way through a landscape sparsely dotted…

2 years ago

The pandemic has transformed America’s dining landscape into an oligopoly dominated by chains 

One of the greatest pleasures I had as a child growing up in the Chicago…

2 years ago

California is moving toward food assistance for all populations—including undocumented immigrants

Undocumented immigrants experience food insecurity at much higher rates than other populations, yet they are…

2 years ago

Babka, borscht … and pumpkin spice? Two writers talk about Jewish identity through contemporary cookbooks.

Writer Charlotte Druckman and editor Rebecca Flint Marx are both Jewish journalists living in New…

3 years ago