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Farmworkers Pursue the American Dream in Fear of ICE Raids

As President Trump’s immigration crackdown intensifies, California farmworkers describe mounting fears of ICE raids, with one worker telling the Los Angeles Times that “the American dream eats us alive.”
The Los Angeles Times reporter Brittny Meija spent three days working alongside California farmworkers picking mini watermelons and cantaloupes.  (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

California is home to some of the most productive agricultural land in the country, but it could not operate without the hundreds of thousands of farmworkers who harvest the food.

Los Angeles Times reporter Brittny Mejia spent three days harvesting mini watermelons and cantaloupes alongside California farmworkers. She joins Scott to discuss the backbreaking work and what she learned from conversations about their lives and growing fears of ICE raids.

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