A Harvest of Injustice

Mass Deportation and The Hidden Looming Spectre of Prison Labor in the American Agricultural Industry

Illustration by the Author

Picture this: an America in the near future where grocery store shelves are eerily empty, not because of drought or crop failure, but because the hands that have been nurturing and harvesting our food supply — immigrant farmworkers — have vanished. This isn’t a dystopian novel; it’s a reality that is unfolding before our eyes.

In the United States, our food system is fundamentally dependent on immigrant labor in a way most Americans rarely contemplate. As surprising as it might sound, between 50–70% of farmworkers are immigrants, many working without documentation. These are the unsung heroes doing backbreaking work under brutal conditions — endless hours under the scorching sun, grueling physical labor, and wages that barely keep them afloat.

Yet, instead of appreciating their critical role, they’ve become political scapegoats, pawns in a larger game of economic and social manipulation…