By Brandon Arias-Hernandez
An unprecedented number of residents turned up at the Downtown Riverside Farmers Market this past Saturday, February, 2025, despite growing concerns with ICE deportations.
The turnout was deemed to be a deliberate move to support farmers and other small business owners who might be facing challenges of deportation amidst the current policies of President Donald Trump.
According to a local farmer who has been participating in farmers markets for 15 years, “There are many reasons, we participate in local farmers markets, but I want to highlight one due to the difficult times we are dealing with right now with the whole deportation issue. They are a way to bring the community together and forget about everything that is going on around even if it is for a brief moment”.
After mentioning the deportation issue, they were asked to give more details about the particular topic.
They mentioned that “I just been seeing a lot of people on social media that live in Riverside dealing with ICE officers and announcing that they should not go out of their houses. So I am delighted to see a lot of people today”. Following Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 presidential elections, the United States has seen an increase of U.S citizenship or residency status checkups by U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. The two states with the highest percentage of undocumented immigrants are California and Texas. In 2022, California was found to have about 2.6 million undocumented immigrants, while Texas had 2.1 million. In other words, the two states alone made up for 42% of undocumented immigrants in the United States. More precisely, Riverside County has an estimate of 132,000 unauthorized immigrants, which is about 10% of its population. All things considered, it is understandable why the streets of Riverside are not as full as they used to be in recent weeks with many people scared to go out of their house unless they really need to. In spite of this, there were so many people at the farmers market this past Saturday, which was very surprising to see and it also highlights the importance of this event. This particular farmers market highlighted unity, equality, diversity, and inclusion.
An attendee named Rogelio Ruiz, who has been going to farmers markets for many years, was asked about the most surprising thing he has experienced during these events.
Ruiz noted that “The most surprising thing that I have experienced actually occurred today. We all know how the political climate in the United States is, so it is refreshing to see this many people today, because recently Riverside has been very quiet”.
Another attendee named Mynor Almazan, who recently just started to attend farmers markets was asked about the best thing about this particular event.
Almazan stated, “There’s two things. The first thing is meeting new people. The second thing is being able to support local farmers who work so hard to provide us with fresh and tasty fruits and vegetables”.
Farmers markets have been around in the United States for many years and have been vital in the country’s history. The number of farmer markets in the United States has grown over the decades. Farmers markets matter because they highlight issues like sustainability, fresh produce access, and supporting small local businesses. But the most important way that farmers markets are significant and why the one that occurred in Riverside, California this past Saturday was amazing and so refreshing to see is due to the fact that they bring the community together and allow local residents to forget about everything that is going on around them even if it is for a brief moment.
