Officials with the Idaho Dairymen's Association say immigration is a major driving force behind Idaho's dairy production - the third largest in the nation.
"The fingers of this go a lot deeper than agriculture," said Bob Naerebout, executive director of the IDA. "That is standing on the shoulders of foreign born labor."
"They're the backbone of this country," said Tony Vander Hulst, president of the IDA and a dairy farmer. "They're putting their hard work to help feed the world."
Naerebout says around 85 percent of the employees in the dairy industry are born outside the country, many of them coming from Mexico.
"They're human beings, they're our buddies," said Vander Hulst. "We work with them every day and you build a bond."
Because of the uncertainty of the immigration policy and President Trump's plans for a proposed border wall with Mexico, dairy farmers and workers are anxious, even if they have legal documentation.
"They're very concerned," said Vander Hulst. "Some of them are almost afraid to go out."
Naerebout says one employee came to him in fear.
"Her daughter said, 'Mom where are we moving to?' And she goes, 'What do you mean?' Her daughter goes, 'Mexicans aren't wanted in this country anymore, I heard that so where do we have to go?'," said Naerebout. "That's the type of fear we don't need."
That fear, Vander Hulst says, is contributing to a shrinking labor pool.
"Some that are here, they're going back and some of them just aren't returning," Vander Hulst said.
Now, the association is calling for action at the national level.
"You can't grow if you don't have labor," Naerebout said. "We don't have access to labor, there's not a legal visa program we can go to get labor."
So a petition is circulating and collecting signatures.
"By USDA's own number, probably up to 40-70 percent of those working in agriculture are illegal," Naerebout said.
IDA is calling for an avenue to a legal workforce.
"That's not amnesty, and that's not a pathway to citizenship," said Naerebout. "It's saying they have the right to be here legally. That's important for security of our country and that's important for them as individuals."
Without moving forward on immigration, farmers fear for the industry.
"It would probably shut it down to a point across the country," said Vander Hulst.
"We already know and can establish how much economic value that the agriculture brings to the state of Idaho," said Naerebout. "So it's time to recognize all the workers that are bringing that value."
Naerebout says there is a program available called the H2A Visa program which is utilized by seasonal agricultural workers, but because the dairy industry is all year-round they do not qualify for that program.
Members of the IDA are hoping to collect at least 10,000 signatures on the petition outlining the needs for immigration reform. The next step, Washington, D.C., where the IDA board president will deliver the petitions to delegation members in hopes of coming up with a plan moving forward.