A coalition of community groups on Monday announced plans for a farmworker labor strike this week in protest of the Trump administration’s ongoing crackdown on undocumented immigration in California.
“We are not machines. We are not criminals. We are the backbone of our food system, and we are tired of being treated as disposable,” said Flor Martinez Zaragoza, a social media influencer, during a news conference on Los Angeles’ historic Olvera Street.
Zaragoza, who runs the Instagram account @flowerinspanish, has more than 500,000 followers. The strike is scheduled to take place from Wednesday to Friday.
“Leave us alone because we come here to work … we’re not coming here to do things wrong,” said Wilfredo Morales, a day laborer supporting the campaign.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security now says officers arrested 361 people last week at two cannabis farms—one in Camarillo and the other in Carpinteria—in what is believed to be the largest single-day immigration enforcement action in California history. The agency also stated that 14 minors allegedly working at the farms were “rescued.”
The crackdown, which began in Los Angeles more than a month ago, has expanded to other areas, prompting concern among local officials who say the raids are spreading fear in immigrant communities.
On Friday, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to halt indiscriminate immigration stops and arrests in seven California counties, including Los Angeles. The administration is currently appealing the decision.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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