United Farm Workers President Arturo Rodriguez met with President Barack Obama today and afterward announced that Obama had told him that his executive action on immigration will protect 250,000 workers, half of them in California.

“We were pleased to learn from the president today that at least 250,000 farm workers (and at least 125,000 California farm workers) will be eligible for deportation relief under his executive action,” Rodriguez said in a news release.

“The president committed to working with UFW to do everything possible to make sure that every farm worker who qualifies for the program gets enrolled, and we are prepared to work with him and Congress to finish the job by passing legislation that fully addresses this issue once and for all,” Rodriguez added.

Today’s meeting followed the UFW’s mock Thanksgiving feast in front of the White House, in which farm workers from across the country presented an array of food items harvested and processed by immigrant workers — and urged Obama to issue an executive action on immigration that would be broadly inclusive of farm workers.

The UFW posted letters farm workers have written to Obama.

▪ United Farm Workers — Mock Thanksgiving Feast in front of White House
▪ — Letters to President Obama