Farmworkers plan strike in protest of immigration raids

COACHELLA VALLEY, Calif. (KESQ)  - Farmworkers across California are leading a three-day strike in protest of recent immigration raids that have left communities living in fear.

Flor Martinez Zaragoza, activist, said the strike is July 16th - 18th.

She said the grassroots movement is not union-led but organized by the workers themselves who are calling for a pathway to citizenship.

"Tomorrow's strike is a result of the multiple raids that have been going on in the state of California and also across the country," Zaragoza said. "And what happened recently has just been so incredibly unforgivable."

She said a farmworker recently died after falling off a roof during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid in Camarillo, California.

"When things like this occur it's important that we react, but we also are mindful of how we are reacting," she said.

Zaragoza said she's calling on consumers to boycott companies that rely on undocumented labor while simultaneously supporting anti-immigrant policies.

"The farmworkers might have started this three day strike," Zaragoza said. "As consumers, we hold the responsibility to continue that as a boycott, because why do we keep putting our money into these corporations that are anti-immigrant."

In the Coachella Valley, a local protest is scheduled Friday in front of the Border Patrol Offices in Indio.

Stay with News Channel 3 for any updates on this developing story.