Immigration

Blue State Illegals Don’t Want To Report Bird Flu Infections For Fear Of Being Arrested By ICE, Union Claims

G. Edward Johnson, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Bird flu cases are running rampant through Washington State — in part because illegal immigrant dairy farm workers do not want to risk deportation, a prominent union claimed.

There is a “vast undercount” of bird flu cases in Yakima Valley due to farm workers receiving conflicting directions on how to protect themselves and a reluctance to speak out about infection for fear of being arrested by immigration enforcement personnel, United Farm Workers (UFW) alleged in a series of X posts Tuesday.

“Given the current and ongoing ICE [immigration and customs enforcement] surge in the Yakima Valley, many or most of the workers are understandably reluctant to proactively engage with public agencies,” the union’s X thread claims. “Most workers report being given goggles and PPE [personal protective equipment], but they need comprehensive training on risk and best practices.”

The union — founded in 1962 by Cesar Chavez — said on X that it has spoken to a number of workers who confirmed that more workers employed at Yakima dairies are sick with avian flu symptoms and have not been tested.

The workers’ symptoms range from very mild to very severe with reports of symptoms that range from mild upper respiratory infection with pink eye to severe flu symptoms with bone pain, severe cough and high fever, the X thread states.

“The Yakima Health District is working closely with the impacted producers, dairy workers, WSDA [Washington State Department of Agriculture], USDA [U.S. Department of Agriculture], the Washington State Department of Health (DOH), and other local, state, and national partners to provide guidance and resources to protect the health of people who have exposure to the infected cattle,” the Yakima County Health Department said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation.

“People exposed to infected animals are being contacted and monitored for symptoms to ensure prompt identification and treatment of any suspected human cases, however, people who work with infected animals are at higher risk of exposure and are recommended to take appropriate precautions, such as wearing personal protective equipment (PPE), to reduce their risk,” the statement added. “Workers are very afraid of ICE-related retaliation if they don’t follow employers’ instructions.”

Yakima County has recently topped the list of number of ICE arrests in Washington.

The city of Yakima saw just over 400 arrests by ICE accounting for 17 percent of the statewide total, the Yakima Herald-Republic reported on Sept. 15. These arrests were more than the number of arrests in any other city in the state — including Tukwila at 347, Seattle at 311 and Spokane at 208, the Herald-Republic found.

Between March 11 and Aug. 5 of this year, ICE arrested more than 2,500 people in Washington state, according to government data provided by ICE in response to a FOIA request from the Yakima Herald-Republic and information from the Deportation Data Project.

The DCNF also reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

The health department said that “the risk of avian influenza to the general public remains low” and human-to-human spread of the disease has yet to be documented in the U.S. It went on to warn residents against consuming raw milk as the flu spreads.

“People should avoid raw milk and unpasteurized dairy products because they may contain harmful germs, including avian influenza,” the statement to the DCNF said. “Pasteurized milk and dairy products remain safe to consume. Pasteurization inactivates avian influenza virus and other harmful pathogens. Choosing pasteurized milk and dairy products helps protect you, your family, and your community.”

“We are emphasizing that health information is private, and that we are not sharing identifying information with federal agencies. We are also running Spanish-language radio ads encouraging dairy workers to protect themselves and to visit a clinic or call us if they develop symptoms,” the statement added. “We can help coordinate testing for exposed individuals who develop symptoms to support prompt diagnosis and appropriate medical care.”

After an avian influenza outbreak left a dairy farm worker dead last month in the county, the DOH confirmed two other human cases in the county that were linked to exposure from infected dairy cattle. The worker who died had underlying health conditions, the DOH confirmed.

“The Yakima County resident who was hospitalized with severe illness after contracting avian influenza (bird flu) following exposure at a dairy with infected cattle died on November 1, 2026,” the Yakima County Health Department told the DCNF in a statement on Nov. 3.