Trump's immigration policies could wreak havoc on this rural town powered by mushroom farms
Farmers rely on year-round help from immigrants to harvest mushrooms. Deportations could destroy the town as they know it.
AVONDALE, Pa. — In this sleepy, rural corner of southeastern Pennsylvania that produces 70% of the nation’s mushrooms, President Donald Trump’s immigration policies are threatening the American dream for a tight-knit community of generational mushroom farmers and the immigrant workers they have long employed.
The year-round work of growing and picking the mushrooms that season the stews and stir-fries on American tables is the basis of the local economy in Avondale, a town of just over 1,200 people where more than 60% are Latino. In recent weeks, several immigrants in the area have already been arrested by federal immigration officials who said they were in the country illegally, leaving many worried about the fate of their families, their community and a $1 billion industry.
“You have to eat food every day. It’s a basic need for each person,” said Ruben, a 31-year-old from Mexico who works at a farm in the area. He’s been picking and harvesting mushrooms for 14 years and asked that his full name not be used for fear of deportation because he is undocumented. The immigration status of workers in the area varies.
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