Farmworkers should be treated as the essential workers they are, not deported | Opinion

As an immigrant and daughter of farmworkers who have given so much to this country, my heart aches watching them be chased down in the very fields they work to feed us. It is a cruel, inhumane reality — and a reminder that we must do better.

I was only 3 years old when my parents brought me to California. Like so many immigrant families, we came in search of a better life, and chasing the American dream. My parents found work in the fields of the San Joaquin Valley, harvesting the fruits and vegetables that feed the world.

I grew up right here in rural California. Like many children of farmworkers, I started working in the fields at a young age. Over time, I also worked as a cook, a housekeeper, and in packing houses before dedicating my life to public service.

My father spent decades laboring in the fields, taking great pride in his work. He worked two jobs, seven days a week, to provide for his family. The work took a toll on his health and his lungs and diminished his chance for a long, healthy life. After 25 years of immense sacrifice and hard work in the fields and selling produce at local swap meets, he passed away after having only a little over a year of rest.

That is why what’s happening right now is so deeply personal — and why it echoes the pain I know too well.

Farmworkers, like other essential workers, are still enduring harsh working conditions, poverty wages, and now the terrifying reality of being targeted and dehumanized while simply trying to provide for their families and communities.

The pandemic may have briefly acknowledged them as “essential,” but the truth is they have always been essential. And they deserve a chance to live and work with dignity.

We need to stop the widespread raids that are separating families, spreading fear and inflicting trauma on our communities. We need comprehensive immigration reform that offers a fair pathway to citizenship.

I’ve spent nearly two decades in public service, rising from the fields of the San Joaquin Valley to serve at the highest levels of government. And I’ve never stopped giving back to the community that raised me. Because I know what is possible when we invest in people and provide opportunity.

Like my family and millions more, immigrants build, sustain, and enrich this country. They take on physically demanding jobs that others won’t. Without them, our food supply and broader economy would face serious risk.

It’s time we invest, protect and provide for those providing for us. We must stand with our immigrant community and ensure they can live and work without fear and with dignity.

Please remember that behind every person is a story. A family. A dream. A neighbor. Someone like me. Someone like my late father.