Minnesota farm, state and legislative leaders warned Wednesday that increased Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity across the state is disrupting agriculture, threatening rural economies and creating widespread fear among farmworkers and food industry employees.

Speaking at a state Capitol news conference, Senate Agriculture Chair Aric Putnam, DFL-St. Cloud, Senate Vice Chair Rob Kupec, DFL-Moorhead, Minnesota Farmers Union President Gary Wertish and Minnesota Department of Agriculture Deputy Commissioner Andrea Vaubel said ICE activity is already affecting farms, food processors and rural communities.

Putnam said the issue extends far beyond immigration policy and is creating immediate economic consequences for agriculture.

“We are in a moment of profound crisis where we are struggling to make sense out of what is happening to us in the state of Minnesota because of decisions made by the federal government,” Putnam said. “The current crackdown is having a tremendous economic and existential consequence for the agricultural economy and for farmers themselves.”

Putnam said about 3,500 H-2A visa holders are legally working in Minnesota agriculture but that fear alone is keeping some workers from reporting to jobs.

“The actuality of the situation that we have right now, is that the current situation is having a tremendous economic consequence throughout the state, but especially hard on our farmers,” he said.

Kupec said ICE activity is occurring well beyond the Twin Cities and into rural Minnesota, including his district.

“We have ICE agents who are roaming around the countryside causing disruptions through the ag industry,” Kupec said. “A healthy, thriving agriculture economy depends on the work of immigrants and guest workers that are here legally.”

He said fear has led workers to stay home, businesses to close and communities to suffer.

“We have seen numerous instances of legal people being picked up, detained, shipped off,” Kupec said.

Wertish said Minnesota Farmers Union members across the state are alarmed by what they are seeing and hearing.

“What’s being reported is real. It’s causing chaos, it’s traumatizing families. It’s making us less safe, and it needs to end,” Wertish said.

He said restaurants and food businesses are closing because workers are afraid to leave their homes.

“They’re legal. Can you imagine any one of you, of us, being afraid to go out of our house?” he said.

Vaubel said immigrant labor is essential to Minnesota’s food and agriculture system.

“Ag and food generate over $105 billion in sales annually and support more than 380,000 jobs across the state,” she said. “Immigrants are a critical part of this labor force.”

She said labor shortages caused by fear could drive higher food prices.

“Shortages in labor lead to higher production costs, which economists warn will result in increased food prices for consumers,” Vaubel said. “None of us live in a bubble when it comes to our food supply.”

During questions, Putnam cited anecdotal reports from rural Minnesota, including farmworkers afraid to stop for lunch due to ICE presence.

“This is about fear,” Putnam said. “Real cops don’t wear masks.”

He said ICE activity is occurring without coordination with local law enforcement.

“That is not a typical or reasonable law enforcement activity,” Putnam said. “It is one that is designed for fear.”

Wertish said the impacts will worsen as planting season approaches.

“It will definitely have an impact,” he said. “You get a short window to get their crop planted. …”

Responding to questions about undocumented labor, Putnam said fear affects all workers.

“The fear that one who is here legally, or one who is here without documents, that fear is the same,” he said.

He advised citizens to document when ICE officials enter their communities.

“Legislatively, we have no jurisdiction to handle these concerns,” Putnam said. “But unlike Kristi Noem, we’re in our communities, and we know what’s going on in them. And so part of our job, I think, is to stay in touch with our communities and make sure that everyone outside of them knows what’s actually really happening. I think our primary responsibility right now is to document the truth and let people know what’s actually happening in greater Minnesota, at the farms, at the meat processing plants, because there’s a lot of misinformation and confusion out there. There’s deliberate confusion out there. And even though we can’t do anything by passing laws. What we can and must do is make sure that the truth gets known.”