John Rosenow, a seasoned farmer from Waumandee, Wisconsin, runs a large dairy farm spanning more than 900 acres and home to over 600 dairy cows. He reveals that a significant majority of the labor, approximately 90%, on his farm is performed by immigrant workers.

Among these workers is Kevin, an immigrant from central Mexico. Arriving in the U.S. as an undocumented immigrant at the age of 18, Kevin is now part of the large population of 11 million undocumented migrants residing in the U.S. A surprising number of these immigrants, around 10,000, are employed on dairy farms across Wisconsin, as highlighted in a study by the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Kevin is assigned various tasks on the farm, ranging from feeding the cows to maintaining cleanliness in the barns. He typically puts in long hours, working six days a week for 12 hours a day, sometimes beginning work as early as 3 a.m. Despite the long hours and hard work, he finds the pay better than what he could earn back in Mexico.

Kevin’s income is crucial for his family back in Mexico. His mother and siblings rely heavily on his earnings, supplemented by his father’s income who is employed on the same farm.

A study by Texas A&M University reveals that over half of all workers in the U.S. dairy industry are immigrants. A large portion of these workers are presumed to be undocumented, as dairy farms generally find seasonal visa programs for legal migrant workers inaccessible. For many of these workers, like Kevin, they have to leave their families behind to earn wages that are often below what American workers receive.

Rosenow voiced his concerns about the high cost of employing American workers. “If I hired Americans to do the work, I would have to pay probably about $100,000 a year per person, and they would only work maybe 40-50 hours a week at that rate,” Rosenow conveyed, expressing his inability to afford the high wages demanded by American workers.

With the commencement of the Trump administration and its promised crackdown on undocumented immigrants, Rosenow is apprehensive about his farm’s future. He fears that if his workers were deported, his business would quickly crumble.

Kevin, however, seems less concerned about the prospect of deportation. Kevin recalls, in Spanish, how four years ago the president had pledged to deport everyone, but that never materialized. Despite occasional fears when hearing news of families being deported, Kevin has not felt fear since then.

This article was written by Camilo Montoya-Galvez, an immigration reporter at CBS News. He is based in Washington and covers immigration policy and politics.