Trump’s plan to deport illegal immigrants on a large scale has left millions of people who illegally cross the border into the US to do manual labor fearing an uncertain future.

On April 5, 2018, as Nayeli walked into the Southeastern Provision meat processing plant in rural Tennessee, where she had worked for years, federal agents suddenly appeared, helicopters hovering overhead.

They arrested her and nearly 100 other migrant workers, as then-US President Donald Trump ordered an increased crackdown on illegal immigration. They were put on buses and taken to detention centers without any explanation.

That evening, Nayeli was allowed to go home with her 9-year-old son, and both mother and son faced deportation, a process that was put on hold after immigrants filed a lawsuit against the government and federal agents, alleging excessive force and racial profiling.

US federal agents arrest an undocumented immigrant outside his home in Paramount, California, in 2020. Photo: Reuters

After winning the lawsuit last year, Nayeli returned to work at the Southeastern Provision factory, but memories of that day continued to haunt her as the US prepared for the presidential election and Mr. Trump stood a chance of being re-elected.

In this race to the White House, Trump has shown a tough stance on immigration, pledging to launch “the largest deportation program in American history” if he is elected.

Trump has vowed to invoke the Foreign Enemies Act of 1798, which was used during World War II to target criminals who illegally cross the border into the United States. He has also vowed to increase the use of expedited deportation procedures, build massive detention camps to hold people awaiting deportation, and end the automatic right of citizenship to those born on U.S. soil.

The Republican candidate compared the plan to “Operation Wetback” carried out in 1954, under President Dwight Eisenhower, in which hundreds of thousands of Mexicans, even US citizens, were rounded up and deported.

This policy, if implemented, would have a huge impact, as about 11 million people are in the US without legal immigration papers.

California, which has one of the highest populations of undocumented immigrants in the country, is expected to be hit hard. About 4 million Latinos in California would be subject to mass deportation if Mr. Trump were to take office.

The American Immigration Council estimates the cost of a mass deportation would be around $315 billion.

“But the question is not whether they can deport all of them at once, but whether they will start a trend of constantly hunting down and deporting undocumented immigrants,” said Mike Madrid, a Latino Republican political consultant.

Farmers harvest melons at Del Bosque Farm, California, July 15. Photo: Fresno Bee

According to Madrid, the mass deportation plan would disrupt the economy, causing catastrophic damage to many individuals and families in California.

“As an American, I hate to be blunt, but the entire economy of this state depends on undocumented immigrants. The California economy cannot function without them. That’s the reality,” he said.

Fears of disruption are looming over California’s Central Valley. Sandra Garcia, who has worked the fields in the Central Valley for more than 40 years, worries about the future of farmers, including her sister, if Trump wins the election and carries out his deportation plan.

Garcia’s sister, an undocumented immigrant, farmed in the Central Valley for years before obtaining a work permit under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). The law provides a special pathway for women who are victims of domestic violence to legalize their immigration status.

“There are women like my sister who are waiting for their papers, some of them are already granted permits, their children are also under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, but most of the farmers here are undocumented,” Garcia said. “If Trump deports them, the farms here will be hit hard without the farmers.”

This worry also weighs on the mind of Joe Del Bosque, a farm owner in Fresno County, California.

“I wonder if Trump understands that mass deportation of immigrants means expelling people who are essential to the food supply chain in the United States. California can’t grow crops like melons, cherries, tomatoes without them,” said Mr. Bosque, who describes himself as a moderate.

Mr. Del Bosque inspects melons at a farm in California, July 15. Photo: Fresno Bee

Many pro-immigration officials and individuals have pledged to fight against mass deportation plans if Mr. Trump is re-elected.

Manuel Cunha, president of the Nisei Farmers Federation in Fresno, said the strike could spark the nation’s largest food industry strike, involving a wide range of farmers and trucking companies.

According to the California Budget and Policy Center, undocumented immigrants in the state contribute nearly $8.5 billion in taxes annually, playing an important role in supporting public services in their communities.

Congressman John Duarte, a Republican, recently introduced the Border Security and Immigration Reform Act, which would provide a legal pathway to legal status for certain groups of undocumented immigrants.

“The bill helps immigrants who have been in the United States for more than five years avoid deportation and creates a flexible visitor worker program for them to participate in. The bill will protect thousands of hardworking, law-abiding, tax-paying families who have worked hard to achieve the American Dream,” said Mr. Duarte.

Many older farmers, who are legal residents in the United States, have expressed support for Mr. Trump. But Garcia said that if Mr. Trump were re-elected and implemented a large-scale deportation plan, the lives and families of millions of people in California would be in danger.

“Many undocumented immigrants here now don’t know what to do, fearing that they and their children will be sent back to Mexico, while the children have lived here their whole lives,” Garcia said.

In Tennessee, Lisa Sherman Luna, executive director of the Refugee and Immigrant Rights Coalition, said that when Trump was in office, many students came home from school to find their homes empty because their parents had been rounded up and taken away. The next day, more than 500 students did not show up for class as fear and confusion escalated.

“It was like a bomb went off in the middle of the community,” Luna said. Teachers tried to comfort students, while religious leaders and activists worked to set up an emergency response center. The entire area was in fear, even for families not directly affected by the crackdown on illegal immigrants.

Nayeli still remembers that day clearly. “I’m scared about the future if he wins this time, because I’ve heard people say he wants to deport me again,” she said. “I’m scared.”