Posted August 13, 2026
Undocumented agricultural workers make up as much as half the farm labor work force. Yet most academic and government researchers and policymakers have had difficulty comprehensively surveying the very people most directly affected and targeted by the Trump administration’s immigration raids. Until now.
Twenty-nine pages of findings from the first novel, in-depth study conducted last year by the UFW Foundation that surveyed 2,250 farm workers, the great majority undocumented, was unveiled during a briefing on Aug. 6, at the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor offices in L.A.
The survey asked farm workers about their experiences during ongoing immigration raids and mass deportations as well as hopes and aspirations for their future in the United States through genuine immigration reform. The majority of survey respondents were from California, but they also hailed from Washington state, Michigan, Georgia, and 12 other states.
“Undocumented farm workers are frequently treated as if they are not important human beings, as if their fears, aspirations and concerns are not significant enough to be considered,” according to the survey conducted by Jonathan Angulo, Ph.D., UFW Foundation’s research and policy analyst fellow and San Diego State University Imperial Valley adjunct lecturer.
Surveying undocumented field laborers is difficult for many reasons. The UFW Foundation can do so because it provides vital services to tens of thousands of workers, many undocumented, as one of the largest providers of immigration legal services in rural California. To carry out this unique survey, the UFW Foundation drew upon its extensive farm worker database.
Survey highlights show that since Trump’s immigration crackdown began in early 2025:
- Some 92% report immigration raids and deportations affected their employment.
- Some 88% fear detention and deportation, 61% have shopped less, 29% have not sought medical attention, and 21% are careful about using their social media.
- Some 80% have lived in the U.S. for more than 10 years, with 41% for more than 20 years, revealing deep roots in their communities.
- More than 40% have labored in agriculture for more than 20 years, demonstrating their professional experience and labor skills.
- Some 90% worry about family separation because of deportations, 49% have not lived in their country of origin for years, 43% fear being unable to return to the U.S., and 13% fear persecution in their birthplaces.
- Some 76% desire protections from deportation and detention and 53% hope for a pathway to legal status and eventual U.S. citizenship; 37% want to be able to attend and organize their children’s school activities.
“For too long, academic and government researchers and policymakers have faced significant barriers to accessing and developing comprehensive data on the people whose very lives are most directly affected by immigration raids,” said Erica Lomeli Corcoran, UFW Foundation’s CEO. “This is the first in-depth study to survey the concerns and fears of undocumented farm workers as well as their hopes and aspirations. We hope this survey will shine a light so those in power can understand the realities faced by those who are the most powerless. Then perhaps undocumented farm workers who produce the greatest abundance of food the world has ever seen will be seen and treated like the important human beings they are.”
Angulo added, “Despite the very real risk of arrest, deportation and family separation, this survey reveals the majority of undocumented workers still aspire to more fully participate in the country they so faithfully serve through meaningful immigration reform, which hasn’t been addressed in nearly 40 years.”
To view the complete survey, please visit: ufwfoundation.org/research/
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