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The consequences of the immigration hardening are already being felt: fruits and vegetables rotting in the fields, restaurants without staff, collapsed hotels and paralyzed constructions.

President Donald Trump's anti-immigrant crackdown is beginning to take its toll on the U.S. economy. Massive raids, targeted deportations and widespread fear are sweeping through agricultural fields, construction sites and factories, crippling sectors that depend almost entirely on immigrant labor.

With his “law and order” rhetoric and a “zero tolerance” policy promoted from the White House, the Republican president has unleashed a climate of persecution and panic in cities, towns and countryside where for decades millions of migrants -many undocumented- have sustained the economy from the shadows.

The consequences of the immigration crackdown are already being harshly felt: fruits and vegetables rotting in the fields, restaurants without staff, hotels collapsing and construction paralyzed.

In the words of farmer Lisa Tate, from Ventura County, California: "If 70% of your labor force doesn't show up, 70% of your crop is lost. This is not sustainable. The workers are afraid. Farmers, assured ruin."

The impact, however, is not just rural or isolated. In industrial cities like Pittsburgh, St. Louis or Buffalo, the reduction of the migratory flow has set back the fragile economic dynamism that recent immigrants had helped to revive.

According to Oxford Economics, net immigration fell at an annual rate of just 600,000, a more than one-third-per-year decline from the last months of 2024. This drop is almost exclusively due to the plunge in unauthorized immigration, a direct result of the repressive ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) machine.

Trump himself, despite admitting that the agricultural sectors “are being severely affected,” has defended the raids. “They are not citizens, but they turned out to be great workers,” he said in an ambiguous tone.

More than 75% of the fruits and nuts consumed in the United States are grown in California, where 80% of the agricultural workers are immigrants, and almost half of them are undocumented.

Today, according to testimonies gathered by Reuters: Entire fields are empty, companies that used to employ 300 people now operate with only 80, and authorized workers also fear being arbitrarily detained.

“Today we are more afraid of the migra(ICE) than the heat of the sun,” said a Guatemalan day laborer quoted by U.S. media. “If they catch you, you may never see your family again.”

The Washington Post and Reuters report raids in car washes, meat packing plants, construction sites and even textile workshops. In cities such as Los Angeles, reconstruction work after the wildfires has been slowed by a lack of labor.

The horse racing industry in Louisville, Kentucky, has also been affected. “Scary times,” summed up one local trainer.

Although Trump has promised to punish companies that employ people without papers, the vast majority of the raids have focused on the workers, not their employers. According to the Washington Post, only one company has been formally charged after dozens of raids.

The analysis of Muzaffar Chishti of the Migration Policy Institute is blunt: “This is not an offensive against employers, but a campaign to inflate deportation numbers.”

Economist Bernard Yaros warns that Trump's policies will cause a 0.25% drop in long-term GDP, rising inflation and structural brakes on productive sectors. "Natives will not replace migrant workers. They do different jobs. Without them, the system collapses."

Donald Trump's immigration policy not only criminalizes the workers who feed, build and clean America, it undermines the very foundation of the economic model it claims to protect. Under the banner of “border control,” it hides a class war that attacks the most vulnerable while shielding the interests of big employers.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/32575402

Community activists spoke from the Philadelphia Palestine Coalition (PPC), the PPC Workers Committee, Montgomery County for Palestine, Students for Justice in Palestine Philadelphia Coalition, the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, Nonprofit Employees Union, Black Alliance for Peace, Writers Against the War on Gaza, Workers World Party, BAYAN USA and Freedom Socialist Party.

YahNé Ndgo with Black Alliance for Peace and Betsey Piette with Workers World Party co-chaired the rally. After hearing from several speakers, the protesters marched around City Hall, then marched to the intersection of 15th and Walnut streets where speakers denounced the investment of public funds in Israel Bonds. The final rally was at Rittenhouse Square.

In addition to the groups represented at the rally, those involved in building the event included Anak Bayan — Philadelphia, Philadelphia Democratic Socialists of America, Korea Peace Coalition, Code Pink, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom — U.S., Koreans 4 Decolonization @ Penn, Philly Alliance Against Imperialism, Mobilization4Mumia, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Philadelphia Alliance Against Racist and Political Oppression as well as individuals opposed to never-ending wars.

https://archive.ph/enn9e

“How do you justify that? I mean, if you’re killing somebody or multiple people — attempted, how does that work?”

“It’s a commandment to rid Israel of evil,” Sheafe replied.

https://qudsnen.co/suspect-with-hebrew-neck-tattoo-admits-to-crucifying-pastor-in-arizona-says-its-commandment-to-rid-israel-of-evil/

https://nypost.com/2025/06/25/us-news/suspect-admits-to-crucifying-pastor-reveals-christian-hit-list/

NEW YORK — More than 21,000 American Jews, including over 700 rabbis and dozens of artists, writers, and community leaders, have signed onto the Jews for Food Aid for People in Gaza campaign, to demand humanitarian access and an end to Israel's food aid blockade.

As part of a broader campaign effort launched in late May, the campaign launched a major ad buy in New York City a full-page advertisement promoting the initiative will appear in The New York Times Magazine this Sunday, organizers told Haaretz.

The open letter at the center of the campaign reads: "Jewish people support food aid for people in Gaza and an immediate end to the Israeli government's food aid blockade."

Among the public figures backing the campaign are playwright Tony Kushner, actors Mandy Patinkin and Wallace Shawn, comedians Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson, and Ben & Jerry's co-founder Jerry Greenfield. Supporters from the food industry include celebrity chefs Alison Roman and Andrew Zimmern and Ari Miller. More than 50 synagogues and congregations have also endorsed the effort.

"There are thousands of truckloads of life-saving aid waiting just on the other side of the border," Greenfield said. "The Israeli government can reverse its food aid blockade today and allow food and medicine to reach people in Gaza who need it urgently."

The campaign is not run by any single organization, but is a communal effort to mobilize support and spread its message across Jewish communities nationwide, organizers said.

"What's happening to Palestinian people in Gaza is unbearably heartbreaking, but it isn't inevitable. This campaign was started to express what we know to be a widely-held position within the Jewish community," Rabbi Alissa Wise, who is among those helping to organize the campaign, told Haaretz.

"By showing mass Jewish support for food aid for people in Gaza and an end to the Israeli government's food aid blockade, we help make the conditions possible for the material reality on the ground in Gaza to change."

As part of the campaign, organizers launched a round of digital advertisements on LinkNYC kiosks across New York City. The ads, which include a QR code linking directly to the open letter, were placed near well-known Jewish food landmarks such as Katz's Delicatessen, Russ & Daughters, Zabar's, and Fairway.

As well, a dozen congregations participated in Food Aid Shabbat, incorporating readings, prayers, and sermons focused on the hunger crisis and Jewish ethical obligations.

"Jewish tradition is clear: if there is a hungry person, one must feed them," said Rabbi Barbara Penzner, interim CEO of the Reconstructionist Rabbinic Association. "No matter who we are or where we are, we are all created in the image of the divine."

A blockade becomes deadly

The campaign was launched in response to Israel's breaking of a temporary cease-fire in late March, which led to a prolonged halt in the flow of food and humanitarian aid into Gaza.

For most of the war, food distribution in Gaza was coordinated by a coalition of international organizations operating under the auspices of the United Nations. Their approach relied on establishing widespread access through multiple distribution points, aimed at meeting basic food security needs across the population.

The Israeli government accused Hamas of diverting food supplies brought in by the UN, though it did not provide public evidence to support the claim. Israel then imposed further restrictions, closing border crossings for extended periods and limiting the number of distribution points to just four.

In late May, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation—an organization backed by both Israel and the United States—began operating in Gaza amid significant controversy. Its founding director resigned within weeks, it lost a key contract with a U.S.-based consulting firm, and its operations were suspended multiple times.

During this period, multiple reports described Israeli forces opening fire on unarmed Palestinians gathered at aid distribution sites. Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed at distribution points in recent months. The incidents have prompted calls for internal military investigations and renewed scrutiny of possible violations of international law.

Eyewitnesses described these sites as a "killing field." A report published by Haaretz included testimony from Israeli soldiers and officers who said they were ordered to shoot at civilians gathered near aid trucks, even when no threat was detected.

This climate of violence and silencing, playwright Kushner said, has made it harder to hold both grief and accountability at once.

“There are those who insist that it’s impossible to feel outrage over the crimes of the Israeli government and the IDF in Gaza and outrage over the murder and kidnapping of Israelis on October 7,” he said. “Anyone who refuses to blindly support Netanyahu’s criminal government, who’s horrified by the forced expulsion, starvation, imprisonment and torture of Palestinians, is labeled an antisemite.”

“But ethnic cleansing and the mass slaughter of civilians are incommensurable with Jewish values and teachings and must be abhorrent to any Jew who understands our culture and our history.” Kushner added.

The campaign aims to gain more attention and sign-ons to pressure U.S. elected officials to push the Israeli government to lift the blockade and allow unrestricted humanitarian aid into Gaza.

“I’m proud to add my voice to that of tens of thousands of Jews,” said Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg. “Ending the food aid blockade is an imperative of Jewish tradition and of our basic humanity.”

Content warning: Linked article contains embedded video with extreme physical violence. Please take care of yourself if you choose to watch.

Narciso Barranco’s horrific assault, caught on camera, is the most recent viral example of the now ubiquitous trend of masked immigration enforcement agents committing non-discriminant human rights abuses. Narciso has been in the U.S. for 30 years, has three sons in the US Marines and had started the process of naturalization when he was targeted by ICE seemingly at random. His son, 25-year-old veteran Alejandro Barranco, speaks out about his father’s racial profiling and inhumane treatment during and since his abduction and detention. Contribute to the family’s GoFundMe here.

For the past year, we have seen conservatives shamelessly targeting disabled and immunocompromised people, especially Palestine solidarity protesters, by trying to pass mask bans, disingenuously trying to draw a link between the use of life-saving medical face masks and antisemitism. Why? Because protest and disability justice threaten the status quo. When regular people wear masks, it’s because in the world since COVID-19, we know the importance of keeping ourselves and each other safe.

When law enforcement agents and ICE seek to conceal their identities using non-medical masks, unmarked vehicles, and plain clothes, and refuse to identify themselves, their agency, their business, it’s because they seek to act with impunity and flagrant disregard for our rights when directly attacking civilians.

ICE agents, on paper, are required to identify themselves. Increasingly, progressive legislators are seeking to ensure compliance with this baseline standard. In CA, the No Secret Police and No Vigilantes Acts have been introduced toward this end. The mask bans include exceptions for medical masks, SWAT teams, and wildfire protection gear. Which leaves us with the question of what [neo]fascist ICE agents would hate more: showing their faces in public, or appearing to care about public health by wearing a KN95?

(Taken from an email sent to me by Never Again Action. Emphasis original.)