Farmers are panicking about President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House in 2025, according to a new report.
Trump's promise to enact mass deportations could result in a "massive loss of revenue" for farmers who rely on immigrant labor to stay afloat, Newsweek reported Monday.
"The idea of mass deportations is frightening and scary, just on a humane level," dairy farmer Jennifer Tilton Flood reportedly said. "With regards to our community, mass deportations could affect our entire dairy industry throughout the U.S."
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About 950,000, or nearly 45 percent, out of an estimated 2.2 million farm laborers in the U.S. are undocumented immigrants, Newsweek reported.
Flood argued businesses and churches should expect a "catastrophic nightmare" to come as U.S. Customs and Border Protection came under Trump's control.
"There is a great chance for families to be broken apart," said Flood. "A lot of my team are raising Americans at home, and so it's tough. There is a lot of concern and there's a lot of panic."
Karoline Leavitt, the Trump campaign national press secretary, has reportedly said her boss' administration will dedicate itself to "the largest deportation operation of illegal criminals, drug dealers and human traffickers in American history."
Experts warn such a mass deportation effort could come with a hefty price tag of up to $315 billion, according to the report.
Restaurant owners say they're afraid of the cost to their businesses.
"If these workers are deported, restaurants will close, leading to massive losses in revenue and a significant downturn in the economy," Sam Sanchez, a National Restaurant Association board member, told Newsweek.
"Many of these individuals are good, law-abiding citizens who worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic but were ineligible for unemployment benefits," Sanchez added. "We need policies that ensure these essential workers can stay and continue contributing to our economy."
