Protesters at World Ag Expo urge farmers to protect undocumented workers from deportation
Dozens of demonstrators protested outside the World Ag Expo on its opening day Tuesday to urge farmers and employers to take a stand against potential mass deportations of farmworkers in the Central Valley.
Demonstrators held banners that read “Stop Deporting Workers” and “End Harmful Immigration Detention Policies” at the expo’s entrance on the corner of South Laspina Street and East Paige Avenue as attendees drove into the International Agri-Center in Tulare County for the annual ag trade show.
Demonstrator Stan Santos said they chose to protest mass deportations at the World Ag Expo to reach farm operators as thousands of farmworkers in the Valley currently work in the harvest of citrus fruits.
Santos said last’s month U.S. Border Patrol operation in Kern County brought fear to the region’s immigrant communities of mass deportations.
“It’s very unfortunate,” Santos said.
Fresno resident Gloria Hernandez, with Raza Against War, said “there is a war going on against the farmworkers” who were deemed essential workers during the pandemic.
Hernandez said their demonstration coincided with the opening day of the World Ag trade show because “we want to let the world know that this is how they are thanking the farmworkers after declaring them essential workers. Now they’re deporting them, calling them criminals.”
Megan Lausten, marketing manager of the World Ag Expo, said the expo did not have a comment on the demonstration.
Adina Escarsega, of Visalia, said demonstrating at the World Ag Expo sent a message to people in the ag industry that farmworkers are essential to the Central Valley’s economy and need to be protected from deportations.
“I’m fighting for the rights of our immigrants that live here, and especially our non-documented immigrants that are being mistreated,” Escarsega said. “We need them for picking our fruits and our vegetables, and we need to embrace them and show them the respect that they deserve because they are a necessary part of our agricultural industry.”
Arthur Ogawa, of Three Rivers, said he was at the demonstration as an advocate for all immigrants.
“We all have a right to be here, even the people who don’t have documentation,” Ogawa said.
Lausten said the trade show is “on track to seeing over 100,000 people over the three days of the show,” which started Tuesday and concludes Thursday.
This story was originally published February 11, 2025 at 4:01 PM.
