Meanwhile, Donald Trump—whose properties have employed hundreds of undocumented workers—blames the chaos on open borders. This, from the man whose Trump Tower was built by 200 illegal Polish laborers.
“Trump’s lies will impact them, not just their neighbor.”
The numbers don’t lie: immigrant labor produces 79% of U.S. milk. Deportations are a political slogan. Dairy collapse is a mathematical certainty.
The land keeps rising. $4,200 an acre in some parts of South Dakota. New farmers can’t break in. Old farmers can’t retire. The kids want out. The feed costs more. The prices don’t change. It’s a race no one can win.
And still—every morning—the cows need milking.
So they show up. Kevin in Wisconsin. Pedro in Idaho. Lucia in Vermont. Some undocumented, all essential.
“They’re not going anywhere,” John Rosenow says. He’s the fifth generation on his family’s farm.
“Trump said the same thing last time. And nothing happened. So they keep showing up.”
They might be wrong this time.
Because the vans are rolling. The names are on clipboards. And the milk is still warm when the knock comes.
“No immigrant labor = no dairy industry.”