Farmers in the Pacific Northwest report a shortage of local labor. This aspect, with changing immigration policies and fear of detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), has led to a growing reliance on the H-2A temporary worker visa program.

In Central Washington, local farmworkers are feeling growing fear and uncertainty. They say federal immigration policies are changing the sector's workforce. Many of these workers, the vast majority of whom are foreign-born, fear losing work hours and being displaced by the growing influx of H-2A visa workers, or worse, being detained.

The escalation of immigration enforcement in the Pacific Northwest is creating fear and leading to family separations among some farmworkers. The number of detainees in facilities like the one in Tacoma has risen sharply, prompting many people to choose voluntary departure after months of detention. This “impossible choice” arises from the absence of bail options, forcing individuals with no criminal record to leave the country, even with their families, to avoid more severe deportation orders and stay together.

Targeted immigration enforcement affected communities in the Northwest during harvest season, though there weren't raids on farms. It has created fear and insecurity, as well as an impact on the social and economic life of the Latino community. However, agricultural industry leaders say it is challenging to determine the effect that changes in immigration laws have had on the harvest, as results depend on many factors.