Can Ventura County continue to feed the nation?

Editor’s note: Immigration is currently a hot topic politically, something we typically tiptoe through carefully. However, Ventura County agriculture depends heavily on migrant farmworkers for field labor, and the current environment is impacting us directly. In a recent conversation with chef José Andrés, founder of World Central Kitchen, television host and chef Andrew Zimmern, says, “Every single food that is on everyone’s plate in this country passes through the hands of an immigrant. Every single piece.” To which Andrés adds, “And very often, an undocumented immigrant.” The discussion highlights the mythology that surrounds immigration, specifically with regard to agricultural workers in California.

“As we look back in our history, we see that Ventura County dry-farmed lima beans and before that was cattle land,” says Maureen McGuire, executive director of Ventura County Farm Bureau. “Because we now grow such a huge variety of fruits and vegetables, our immigrant labor is essential to producing billions of servings of fruits and vegetables annually. Without hand labor, we would have to revert to less-labor-intensive crops.”

McGuire adds that even with the county’s current immigrant population, our farms suffer from a labor shortage, as demonstrated by what she calls the “extraordinary cost” farmers pay to bring people from other countries to work on H-2A visas—temporary agricultural permits that allow farmers to hire foreign workers for seasonal work when they cannot find enough domestic workers.

“So, if anybody’s interested,” she says, “there are plenty of jobs available if they’d like to come out and work in the field!”

EXPOSING MYTHS

Myths around immigration abound in spite of research that has examined the specific impact of immigrants on the economy, jobs, housing and crime.

Among the key findings in a 2024 report by the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit nonpartisan think tank, is the fact that in recent years, there has been an unprecedented deceleration of growth of the U.S.-born population. The rate of work-aged immigrants who have come into the country during the same time period has allowed for continued economic growth that would have stagnated otherwise.

Furthermore, immigrants pay in taxes more than they use, particularly in terms of public services, and immigration does not reduce the number of jobs available for U.S.-born workers and in fact has slightly reduced inflation in past years.

To take it a step further, Jamshid Damooei, professor of economics at California Lutheran University (CLU) in Thousand Oaks, seeks to separate myth from the reality of life and economic contribution of undocumented workers in Ventura County specifically, in a 2023 study. Here are a few of the findings:

• There are around 60,000 undocumented immigrants in Ventura County, which is 7% of Ventura County’s population.
• 83,000 Ventura County residents are part of a household with an undocumented adult.
• Agriculture is the biggest employer of undocumented immigrants.
• 77% of undocumented immigrants in Ventura County have lived in the U.S. for 10 or more years, and 28.3% have lived in the country for 20 years or longer.
• Undocumented immigrants were directly responsible for $5.4 billion in economic activity in 2019, or more than 10% of the county’s total output.
• Ventura County undocumented immigrants generate around $1.4 billion a year in tax payments alone.

ALIENS ARE HUMAN

“Remember that we’re talking about people. It’s a nuanced topic, and we need to humanize this issue and make sure we’re always being respectful and appreciative,” says Caitlin Paulus Case, executive director of Students for Eco-Education and Agriculture (SEEAG). “It is important to not always assume agricultural labor is illegal. There’s definitely a negative connotation and misinterpretation when we talk about labor in agriculture—that it’s always illegal. People who, for one reason or another, others believe aren’t supposed to be here. But they are such valuable, incredible members of our community who often come through a variety of pathways to be here.”

Case adds, “I would just like to reiterate that I am not an expert on agricultural labor or immigration, and that I view this topic through the lens of education.”

Chris Sayer, board president for the Farm Bureau in Ventura County, fifth-generation farmer and owner of Petty Ranch in Saticoy, echoes this sentiment. “We’ve got people in the ag industry who are citizens by birth, citizens by naturalization, people who have various levels of work permits,” he says. “You’ve got people who may have entered legally under a permit but might not be working legally. And some have no documentation whatsoever. It gets muddled further when you think about people within the same household who fall into different categories: a native-born citizen who brought his cousin with no documentation; parents who have one legal status with children who were born here, etc.”

WHEN THINGS GET ICEY

McGuire says that anxiety among farmworkers has risen significantly due to changing immigration policies. The Farm Bureau has received reports of people impersonating U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to extort money from immigrants, or simply just to terrorize their neighbors. Some farmworkers report avoiding activities such as enrolling their children in sports, visiting their physician when ill, attending church or even driving to the grocery store or laundromat. Some farmworkers have disengaged from programs like food assistance because they do not want their information on government-related documents or websites.

“Not only do they not have enough food for themselves, but also their children who are born here with legal U.S. citizenship don’t have enough food,” says McGuire. “Justifiably, immigrants are feeling not just unwelcome, but also scared.”

As this article was being written in April 2025, the Department of Homeland Security’s ICE operation was seeking to spend up to $45 billion to expand immigrant detention in the United States, according to proposals posted by the administration. According to the DHS website, the average cost of deporting an illegal immigrant is $17,121.

“ICE indoctrinates fear into the community and relies on the fact that people don’t know their rights,” says a coordinator for the 805 Immigrant Rapid Response Network, who asked to remain anonymous. This community-led initiative provides legal support and resources to undocumented individuals and families facing immigration enforcement actions in Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, so they are aware of local reports of ICE activity and verify them. From January 26, when the organization verified the first ICE arrest, thru May 12, there had been 54 verified arrests across the three counties.

Through education and training, the coordinators are hoping to strengthen this system so that people understand their rights, wait for legal help when confronted by ICE, and avoid being detained.

“Our goal is to prepare our community, empower them, let them know that they have constitutional rights regardless of immigration status and that they are leaders in their own ways.”

The Ventura County Farm Bureau also actively monitors immigration enforcement activities, which as of April 2025 had not been at the mass deportation level. However, “just because we haven’t seen on-farm raids, it doesn’t mean there’s not an impact to the rhetoric and discourse on the issue,” says McGuire. “Farmers should educate themselves and prepare for potential audits and on-farm visits.”

FARMWORKER PROFILE

Magdalena Gloria Lopez came to work in the Oxnard strawberry fields about 30 years ago after hearing about the work available from a friend who had moved from their hometown in Oaxaca, Mexico. According to her son, Alexis Lopez, who translated for her, she loved Ventura County right from start—especially, working outside in the sun and wind, while listening to music that she is always playing on her radio.

Lopez became a U.S. citizen about 15 years ago, but despite her legal status, the news of increased immigration enforcement scares her. As an older woman who is blind in one eye from diabetes, only able to speak in a Mexican dialect called Mixteco and unable to read or write, she feels scared. She believes that not being able to communicate will put her at risk for being deported too, even though she’s a legal citizen.

“I am especially scared and sad for friends,” Lopez says. “I remember that feeling of being scared of immigration police; of having to always be aware of your surroundings when working or driving to work.”

Given this fear, she and her friends go to work, go to buy groceries, then go directly home, to avoid any unnecessary risk. Nonetheless, her son Alexis Lopez says, “Working in the fields is a form of stress relief for her, because she’s out there exercising, looking at Mother Nature, and she likes it.”

AT MURANAKA FARM

Muranaka Farm, Inc. was founded by Minoru Muranaka and his wife, Matsue, 50 years ago. They started as sharecroppers and eventually bought their own land. Their sons Harry and Roy expanded the business, and they are now the largest shipper of bunched green onions in the country—50 million a week(!)—in addition to harvesting 12 other vegetables. Charles Muranaka, grandson of Minou and Matsue, now handles the day-to-day farm operations, keeping to the family’s farming tradition. Throughout the farm’s long history in Ventura County, Muranaka’s handbunched products have proven more challenging to nurture, harvest and ship relative to other agricultural products, and the work requires many skilled fieldworkers like the ones pictured. Muranaka Farm’s success has proven that the high-quality agricultural products are worth the painstaking work.

Maria Yolanda Gonzalez, a fieldworker at Muranaka Farm, agreed to be photographed here with Martita Martinez-Bravo, PsyD, executive director of Friends of Fieldworkers, Inc. The mission of Friends of Fieldworkers is to “befriend farmworker families in Ventura County by supporting, celebrating, and advocating for them.” According to Martita, Muranaka Farm is a unionized farm, so photographs of the workers are “safe” to be printed here right now. However, Martita reports that “many fieldworkers on other farms do not like to be photographed during this time for fear of their safety,” moreover, “many growers do not allow photographers on their farms, to protect their workers.”

MAKING SENSE OF IT

Local nonprofit representatives working directly with Ventura County farmworkers offer advice for considering the issues in our own neighborhoods:

“Make sure you are accessing accurate information. At SEEAG, we offer farm tours that connect the community to local agriculture. You come out to the farm, talk to the ranch manager and get your information directly from somebody who is an expert and not from an online source that maybe can’t be verified. Issues like immigration really do affect our communities very directly, so learn more and get involved.” —Caitlin Paulus Case, executive director, SEEAG

“If we see a change in policy and direction and activity—speak up! [ICE] actions don’t simply impact individuals who may have violated immigration policy; the actions don’t simply impact farmers or employers in the area. These are people who are members of our community. So talk to local city council members, your county supervisor, the cop at the coffee shop, and let them know this is an important issue to you.” —Chris Sayer, owner of Petty Ranch and board president for the Farm Bureau of Ventura County

“In addition to the urgent need for immigration reform, supporting local workers is something that everyday Ventura County residents can do today. At Friends of Fieldworkers, our programs are dedicated to making a difference in the lives of farmworkers. We offer no-cost Laundry Love services, provide scholarships for the children of farmworkers, offer emergency funding for families in crisis and host celebratory on-site farm visits, where we provide lunch and deliver goods to farmworkers in the fields.” —Martita Martinez-Bravo, PsyD, executive director, Friends of Fieldworker

THE RAPID RESPONSE HOTLINE

A rapid response coordinator at 805UndocuFund says, “Donations to our nonprofit are great, but you can also volunteer. For example, we are constantly training people in the community to become legal observers—people who go out and respond to possible ICE activity. The more people we have on board, the more rapid our system becomes.

“Most of the farmworkers we serve come from indigenous regions of Oaxaca, Mexico, with many speaking Mixteco and Spanish as a second language,” the coordinator adds. If you speak a dialect, getting involved can help convey vital information.

“The rapid response hotline number needs to be ingrained in everyone’s mind, so people know who to call when they need help,” says the coordinator. You can call or text “alert” to the 805 Immigrant Rapid Response Hotline, 805-870-8855. Times you might do that include:

• When there’s ICE or Border Patrol activity in your neighborhood or workplace;
• If there are immigration raids or checkpoints;
• If there are detentions or arrests of undocumented and documented individuals in deportation proceedings;
• If there’s any suspicious activity that may involve immigration enforcement.

Additional information available through this hotline includes a trusted network of nonprofit, private, and public attorneys and assistance registering to receive text alerts; immediate legal rights information.