A gallon of conventionally-produced milk currently costs around three dollars. That price could rise to as high as six dollars a gallon if President Donald Trump succeeds in his promise to deport all undocumented immigrants in the United States. That’s because the dairy industry, in Wisconsin and elsewhere, depends heavily on immigrant workers from Mexico and Central America.
Even though promised mass deportations have yet to materialize, Trump’s election is drying up the dairy industry’s labor supply, as workers face hostile rhetoric and rising immigration arrests. Amid growing uncertainty and fears, some dairy workers are leaving their jobs behind and moving back to Latin America. Reporter Alex Hall with the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism has been investigating this story and she joins Eight O’Clock guest host Kia Karlen (filling-in for Brian Standing who is away on assignment) by phone with an update.