‘Trump's Coming’: California Farmworker Groups Rattled by Threatening Postcards

Belinda Hernandez-Arriaga, the executive director of Ayudando Latinos A Soñar, had just returned to work after a long weekend when she was notified that an anonymous postcard threatening immigrant workers had been sent to the nonprofit.

The postcard sent to ALAS, which was discovered Tuesday, told workers to pack their bags because “Trump’s coming.” It also included contact information for Homeland Security and immigration enforcement, as well as a list of where undocumented persons could be found — schools, work, church, restaurants and “in your neighborhood.”

Hernandez-Arriaga, whose organization works to empower Latino farmworkers in Half Moon Bay, said her initial reaction was shock and fear.

Since his inauguration this week, President Trump has moved to reshape immigration enforcement, taking the first steps toward following through on his campaign pledge of mass deportations and increased border security. In California, reports of federal raids and deportations in cities including Bakersfield have left many in the immigrant community scared to leave their homes.

“A mom called me this morning and said her son doesn’t want to go to school. He’s crying. He’s very upset,” Hernandez-Arriaga said. “This is trauma. … It’s not just threats. It’s not only political. This is a medical crisis. People are suffering because of this.”

Three offices owned by the United Farm Workers, the largest union of its kind, also received postcards that read “report illegal aliens” and “there is nowhere to hide,” a threat aimed at the union’s undocumented laborers, KVPR reported. The same messages appeared on the postcard sent to ALAS, and they were all reportedly postmarked in Oakland.

ALAS said it reported the postcard to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office, Supervisor Ray Mueller and U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff (D–Calif.).

“Hate has no place in our community. Threats and intimidation will not be tolerated,” said Supervisor Ray Mueller. “I fully denounce this unacceptable act and expect it to be met with the full weight of justice.”

For Hernandez-Arriaga, the postcard serves as a devastating reminder of the obstacles facing her community. Wednesday marked the second anniversary of a mass shooting in Half Moon Bay that left seven farmworkers dead, an alleged act of workplace violence that exposed laborers’ poor living conditions and low pay.

“We started the week so emotional, and we knew that this was coming,” Hernandez-Arriaga said. “We cannot lose sight of the pain and the tragedy but also the tremendous contributions that our farmworkers make to all of us. Whether it’s seen or unseen, whether we see them or do not see them, everyday when we sit down to eat, our food comes from them.”

Hernandez-Arriaga said she sees this as the moment to effect change and to remind people of the important role that farmers and farm laborers play in the community and the state.

Despite producing much of California’s agricultural product, many farmworkers in San Mateo County suffer from extremely poor housing conditions and low wages. An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor in 2024 found that workers employed by the two Half Moon Bay mushroom farms where the 2023 shootings took place were being forced to sleep in cramped spaces infested by rodents and garbage.

ALAS, which Hernandez-Arriaga founded more than a decade ago, works to provide basic resources and immigration services to farmworkers, many of whom are migrants living in the U.S. without permanent legal status. In 2022, ALAS partnered with a nonprofit developer to build affordable housing for senior farmworkers in Half Moon Bay’s downtown area.

The project was finally approved last year after considerable pushback from community members.

“As a community, we need to remember all the sentiments and feelings after what we saw two years ago and not lose sight of the commitment and the resolve that we all made to champion our farmworkers,” Hernandez-Arriaga said. “We really need to make laws that protect our workers, our farmworkers.”

ALAS is working with other groups and state officials to prepare for the new Trump administration. Hernandez-Arriaga said the nonprofit is hiring an immigration attorney, and organizations are also banding together to create a safety team that can provide information on potential raids and deportations to community members.

They are also starting a “Know Your Rights” campaign to educate farmworkers who are undocumented on what they should do if they are confronted by immigration enforcement officials.

In the Bay Area, elected officials are pushing back against the Trump administration’s attacks on sanctuary cities and immigrant communities. Emergency hotlines are available for undocumented residents who need legal assistance, and the state Senate recently approved $50 million for litigation against the federal government and legal aid for Californians at risk of deportation or detention.

Attorney General Rob Bonta has already filed a lawsuit against Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship for children born in the U.S. whose parents are not citizens or legal permanent residents. The order was temporarily halted Thursday by a federal judge in a separate lawsuit.

Hernandez-Arriaga continued: “We have to be united in this effort, in this process and in standing in solidarity with one another to do everything we can.”

KQED’s Daisy Nguyen contributed to this report.