Lifelong farmer Joe Del Bosque knows that America can’t live without immigrants, but he worries that many of his countrymen think it can’t live with them either.

“When they’re needed, they welcome them. When they don’t need them, they want to kick them out,” the 75-year-old told AFP.

“Well, right now the country doesn’t know that they do need some of these workers.”

Farmers like Del Bosque, who grows cantaloupes and almonds in California, fear they could be at the sharp end of president-elect Donald Trump’s promise to deport millions of non-citizens.

Economists agree that a mass expulsion could leave him and others like him without enough workers to harvest food — causing shortages and sending prices skyrocketing.

“He’s talked about deportations. We don’t know yet what that means,” said Del Bosque.

“Does that mean everyone? We certainly hope that doesn’t mean he’s going to raid our farms, because without our people, our farms will come to a stop.”

And it isn’t just arable farmers who are worried.

Rick Naerebout, executive director of the Idaho Dairy Producers Association, warns the sudden disappearance of skilled laborers could be “devastating” to the dairy industry.

“It would only take a couple days of disruption and not being able to feed or milk our cows to where you would damage our industry beyond repair,” he told AFP.

– ‘Essential’ –

Around 2.4 million people work in farming in the United States, 44 percent of whom are undocumented, according to a survey by the Department of Labor.

University of Michigan economist David Ortega said — despite what some politicians say publicly — it is widely acknowledged in official circles that the entire system is heavily dependent on illegal workers.

“These are individuals that perform essential, very labor-intensive tasks like planting and harvesting,” he said.

“Many of them fill critical roles that many US-born workers are either unable or unwilling to perform.”

Farm work is hard, and often done in a difficult environment — summer temperatures in California can top 40 celcius (104 Fahrenheit), while winters in places like Idaho are routinely below freezing.

This reality stands in stark contrast to claims by nationalist politicians like Trump that these immigrants are “stealing” American jobs.

Naerebout, of the Idaho Dairy Producers Association, said it’s a common — and frustrating — fallacy.

To illustrate the point, he says one contractor last year advertised to fill thousands of roles.

“They had fewer than 30 domestic applications for 6,000 jobs,” he said.

“Only 12 of those individuals resulted in an interview, and only two resulted in a hire, and those two that got hired didn’t make it to harvest.

“Americans don’t want these jobs.”

– Posturing –

Such details were absent on the campaign trail, where Trump rallies painted migrants only as a problem for the United States, a source of crime and overcrowding that need to be sent packing.

The rhetoric was popular with voters, especially in rural areas, many of whom cited immigration as a key reason for supporting Trump.

California dairy farmer Tom Barcellos says he is convinced that — despite Trump’s promise to carry out the largest deportation in US history — common sense will prevail when the Republican takes office on January 20.

“I’ve been to (Washington) DC many times. I’ve been to (California state capital) Sacramento many times,” he said.

“Those that have the power know we’re not going to go raid agriculture, because that’s the food source for the American people, and they don’t want to raise the cost any more than it needs to be.”

For Naerebout there is a desperate — and long overdue — need to move past the political posturing of the last few decades and work out a way forward.

“We’ve been frustrated for, you know, 20 years trying to find a pathway forward to reforms at a national level, and both (Democrats and Republicans) are at fault,” he said.

“We as an industry wonder if there’s lack of political will to solve the problem because the problem presents itself as a great political fundraiser and stump speech.”

Del Bosque says he hires around 200 workers during harvest season and finds the process frustrating.

Migrants who try to do things legally get bogged down in a bureaucracy that appears to have no understanding of the needs of the workers or the industries that need to employ them.

“A lot of our fresh fruits and vegetables need to be picked by hand,” he said.

“If Americans value that kind of food in their diet — fresh fruits and vegetables — they need to consider that we have to have a reliable workforce to have a reliable food supply.”

[Vanguard]

A federal high court in Abuja has ordered the interim forfeiture of $49,700 allegedly recovered from Nura Ali, a former resident electoral commissioner (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Ali was REC for Sokoto state during the 2023 general election.

Emeka Nwite, the presiding judge, gave the order on Monday after Osuobeni Akponimisingha, counsel to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), moved an ex-parte motion for the temporary forfeiture of the money.

The Federal Republic of Nigeria is the applicant, while Ali was the sole respondent in the motion ex-parte marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1846/2024.

The motion, dated December 20 and filed on December 24, was jointly submitted by the ICPC and the Department of State Service (DSS).

The motion sought an order of the court temporarily forfeiting $49,700.00, “recovered from one Dr. Nura Ali during a search operation by the federal government of Nigeria as property suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities”.

The motion also requested an order directing the applicant, through the ICPC and the DSS, to jointly conduct a thorough preliminary investigation into Ali’s alleged unlawful activities concerning the movable property and submit a report to the court within 90 days.

It also sought an order directing the applicant to deposit the $49,700.00 in an escrow account with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and to publish a notice in a national newspaper inviting persons, whether human, juristic, or artificial, with an interest in the money to show cause why it should not be permanently forfeited to the federal government.

The applicant stated that the victims of the alleged crime were the federal government of Nigeria and taxpayers, including judges across the country.

“The alleged movable property of $49,700.00 was bribe money received by Dr. Nura Ali when he was the Independent National Electoral Commission’s Resident Electoral Commissioner for Sokoto state,” the motion reads.

“The alleged movable property is not the legitimate earning of Dr. Ali as INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioner.

“The alleged movable property is suspected to be proceeds of crime.”

The applicant argued that INEC does not pay its staff salaries in US dollars, noting that the purpose of the application was to preserve the property from dissipation.

The applicant added that interested persons, including the alleged owner, would have the opportunity to provide a legitimate explanation for the property.

“Where cogent and verifiable explanations exist as to how the property was acquired, devoid of crime, the alleged owner or any other person with a proprietary interest in the property will be allowed unrestricted possession of the property,” the application stated.

E.O. Akponimisingha, who appeared for the applicant, told the court that the motion ex-parte sought four orders.

He prayed the court to grant the application in the interest of justice.

He said a search was conducted at Ali’s residence in Kano, where $49,700 was retrieved.

He alleged that Ali had disclosed in an extra-judicial statement to the DSS that $150,000 was gifted to him by the former governor of Sokoto, Aminu Tambuwal, and Aliyu Wamakko, a serving senator.

The lawyer stated that Ali had written a letter to the DSS seeking the return of the money.

An affidavit supporting the motion ex-parte, deposed to by Iliya Markus, a litigation officer with the ICPC, said the secret service acted on intelligence reports about alleged bribes received by Ali from stakeholders, including politicians, during his tenure as INEC REC in Sokoto.

He confirmed that the residence was searched pursuant to a warrant, during which $49,700 was recovered.

“A copy of the search warrant is hereby attached and marked as Exhibit DSS 1,” he said.

The affidavit stated that Ali failed to report the alleged $49,700 gift to law enforcement, as required by law, and that he had previously written letters requesting the return of the money.

“Copies of the said letters are hereby attached and marked as Exhibits DSS 3 and 4, respectively,” the affidavit reads.

Markus noted that the investigation is ongoing, necessitating the 90-day application.

Nwite deemed the application meritorious and consequently granted the prayers.

The judge adjourned the matter until January 30 for a compliance report on the publication in the media and until March 31 for a further hearing.

[TheCable]