MADISON, Wis. — As Donald Trump confirmed on Monday his plan to carry out “mass deportations” and upend the lives of millions of families across the country, Wisconsin dairy farmers, industry executives, and immigrant advocates are warning of the catastrophic impact Trump’s plan will have on Wisconsin’s economy and dairy industry.

Family dairy farms are already struggling to stay afloat as large corporate farms take over the industry, and there’s little help on the horizon for the 6,000 remaining Wisconsin dairies. Since 2017, Wisconsin has lost 30 percent of its dairy farms, and many more will be forced out of business if Donald Trump deports Wisconsin’s migrant workers. What’s more, with legislation like the House GOP’s 2024 Farm Bill, Republicans like Derrick Van Orden are hanging small- and medium-size dairies out to dry while giving corporate farms a boost—reaffirming that neither Donald Trump nor his Republican allies are looking out for Wisconsin’s economy or dairy industry.

Read more from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Mass deportations would devastate dairy farming and other businesses
By: Rick Barrett

• If not for his longtime Mexican employees, dairy farmer Hans Breitenmoser Jr. says he would be forced out of business.
   
• His herd of around 400 cows must be milked three times a day, 365 days a year. His 10 or so foreign-born employees have proven reliable even as the pipeline for other workers in Lincoln County dried up long ago.
   
• “It doesn’t matter if these people are from Mexico or Mars. It doesn’t matter because we need ‘X’ number of people to run the economy, and if they’re not here, it doesn’t work,” Breitenmoser said.
   
• Yet president-elect Donald Trump’s pledge to deport unauthorized immigrants could trigger a labor crisis at a time when businesses are struggling to find hired help.
   
• By many accounts, immigrants provide most of the labor on large and midsize dairy operations. Many of those individuals are working in the U.S. without authorization because, unlike seasonal farm workers, there is no employment visa available to them.
   
• Yet dairies that employ immigrants are responsible for 79% of the U.S. milk supply, according to the National Milk Producers Federation, an industry trade group.
   
• The loss of foreign-born workers would upend the industry and nearly double retail milk prices, the federation says. Consumers would also face higher prices for other grocery items if unauthorized workers were forced out of food processing plants.
   
• Dairy farming would collapse in a “big, nasty, ugly way,” Breitenmoser said.
   
• Some farmers say they haven’t encountered a U.S.-born applicant in years, and it’s crucial they have immigrant employees to fill those jobs.
   
• “They’re good, decent people who are getting work done that otherwise wouldn’t get done,” Breitenmoser said.
   
• “Dairy farmers cannot lose their current workers without massive disruption to their farms and to rural economies. Employees who have been working on dairy farms should be able to continue working and earn permanent legal status, as should their immediate families,” the National Milk Producers Federation says.
   
• “The H-2A guest worker visa program, used by many in agriculture to attract seasonal foreign labor, doesn’t fit dairy’s year-round needs but could be improved to make the program workable,” it adds.
   
• Many say U.S. manufacturing, which has struggled with talent shortages, is long overdue for immigration reform that Congress hasn’t addressed for 30 years. There’s a need for practical solutions, according to the National Association of Manufacturers, a business group with more than 14,000 member companies.
   
• “The current system does not allow us to reach our full potential for economic growth and leadership. The system is difficult for both employers and applicants to navigate,” NAM says.
   
• Years of gains in immigration protections could be swept away under Trump, said Christine Neumann-Ortiz, founder and executive director of Voces de la Frontera, an immigrant rights group in Milwaukee.