Farmers struggle to find field workers as many are ‘living in fear’ amid rising immigration enforcement

By: Sahana Patel

Originally Posted 5:00 PM, Apr 15, 2026

MOUNTAIN HOME, Idaho (KIVI) — It has been a tough year for Idaho farmers dealing with less water, higher fuel costs, and fewer workers in the fields.

Bethany Gotts owns Quey’s Farm in Mountain Home, a 500-acre family operation she took over after her father passed away. With fewer workers, a lot of the manual labor is left up to her.

Gotts said a crackdown on immigration enforcement is making it even harder to find help.

"It's just been harder and harder and harder to find those people to work," Gotts said.

She told me she has tried hiring locally, but it has been difficult to find people willing to do the hard work. She posted job openings on Facebook, but said interest dropped quickly.

"I had seven people contact me about it, and when I sent them the description, I had no people respond," Gotts said. "Finding a legal American here that is going to work as hard as an immigrant is nearly impossible, and I don't know how to say that kindly or well.”

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Gotts said the increase in immigration enforcement has made it harder to find migrant workers.

"The community has definitely been on edge around here. It's heartbreaking cause they are living in fear here," Gotts said.

Hiring undocumented workers is not an option, with serious risks for both sides.

“I do respect the laws of the country, and I want everybody that I work with to respect the laws of the country too,” Gotts said. "The repercussions are too bad, because one, you're going to get fined. You have, unfortunately, an employee living in fear, and I don't blame them, but they could get picked up at any moment, and then you're without an employee."

To keep her farm running, Gotts is hiring high schoolers and is now looking into the federal H-2A visa program, which allows temporary agricultural workers into the U.S.

"I have endeavored to spend $200,000 to build a small, small worker housing, so that I can get H-2 workers next year," Gotts said.

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Without a stable workforce, the impact could extend beyond the farm.

"You probably won't see higher grocery prices immediately, but it will kind of have a residual effect over the next two to three years, actually, because the crops that are getting grown this year are going into foods that are being produced that you will see on the shelves next year and the year after that," Gotts said.

Gotts hopes for long-term solutions that support both farmers and workers.

"The misnomer that farmers exploit immigrants is just so sad to me because, like I said, my friends and neighbors, we love our workers, they're our family,” Gotts said. “They want to work, and they will work hard. There needs to be a path for these people in our country to get a green card and be able to live here and work, because our government has failed them, and it is failing, I feel, the farmers in a way, too."

Gotts is still looking for workers. If you're interested, you can contact Quey’s Farm on Facebook. 

This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been, in part, converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.