“I want folks to know, when we talk about mass deportations this is what it means. It means families being separated. It means 11-year-old kids without their dad. Wives without their husbands. It’s just awful.”
Washington, D.C. — In a video, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) recounted his visit on Saturday with the families of recently deported United Farm Workers (UFW) in the Kern County deportation raids that took place between January 7 to January 10.
Watch the video HERE. Download the video HERE.
Key Excerpt:
So this past weekend I was in the Central Valley and had one of the most really heartbreaking meetings I think I’ve ever had. I sat down with a group of farm workers who were the subject of these mass deportations.
Women whose husbands were pulled out of their cars during traffic stops or at gas stations and forced to sign forms they didn’t understand what they were signing. Almost immediately deported to Mexico, leaving behind their wife, leaving behind their children. I met two young children, both aged 11. One whose father was now in Mexico and he had been able to speak to his father and was heartbroken missing his father, the other had not been able to even speak to his father yet, in tears. Mothers afraid to bring their kids to school. Just horrible heartbreaking situation.
These were people who have been working in the fields in some cases for decades. Backbreaking work, they worked throughout the pandemic so all the rest of us could eat. And having their families torn apart in this way, seeing these children missing their parents, it was just devastating.
And none of these people, none of these people had any criminal record. Never been arrested for anything. Often they were pulled over and asked if they were so and so. They didn’t even have the right people. It just didn’t matter and that this is being done, and maybe just the beginning what’s being done is just awful.
Awful for these families. Awful for people who put themselves at risk to feed us during the pandemic. It’s going to be awful for farmers because people aren’t showing up to work in the fields. It’s going to be awful for consumers because food prices are just going to go higher.
But most particularly, I want folks to know, when we talk about mass deportations this is what it means. It means families being separated. It means 11-year-old kids without their dad. Wives without their husbands. It’s just awful.
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