Could Illegal Aliens Crapping In Your Food Be Why You’re Having Explosive Diarrhea?

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A microscopic parasite causing explosive diarrhea in thousands of Americans spreads when human feces contaminate the food supply — and interviews with experts and research reviewed by the Daily Caller suggest poor field sanitation among illegal immigrant farmworkers could be a major source of the problem.

Federal inspectors have previously found human feces and toilet paper in produce fields, filthy food-contact surfaces, sewage-contaminated water used to wash crops, and handwashing stations that lacked soap or running water. Meanwhile, agricultural employers accused of relying heavily on illegal immigrant labor have also faced allegations of dangerous conditions, wage violations, and threatening workers with deportation.

Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), told the Caller that employers willing to violate immigration and labor laws may also be more willing to ignore sanitation requirements to cut costs.

Illegal immigrant workers are particularly vulnerable because they may be reluctant to report unsafe conditions or draw attention from authorities, Vaughan said. That can make it easier for employers to evade rules requiring access to toilets, handwashing facilities, clean water, and other basic protections.

That possibility is especially significant because of the unusual way Cyclospora spreads. If workers lack access to clean toilets, handwashing stations, or safe drinking water, human waste carrying the parasite could make its way into produce before it reaches American consumers. Cyclospora infections have also frequently been associated with international travel or imported produce, including produce from Mexico. (RELATED: No More ‘Dependency’ — DHS To Deny Green Cards To Immigrants On Welfare)

Cyclosporiasis, a gastrointestinal illness that commonly causes watery diarrhea, fever, and vomiting, does not spread directly from one person to another. The parasite must first spend several days or weeks outside the human body in contaminated food, water, or soil before becoming infectious, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Warm conditions during harvest can allow the parasite to mature if produce is exposed to human waste because of inadequate field sanitation. The risk is especially difficult to eliminate because Cyclospora is “unlikely to be killed or inactivated by routine chemical disinfection,” according to the CDC.

The current outbreak has sickened at least 1,645 people across the United States since May, while another 5,100 potential cases are being tested, the CDC reported. The agency noted that “the true number of illnesses is likely higher than what has been reported.”

A total of 141 people have already been hospitalized, according to the CDC.

While the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not issued an official recall or identified a specific food responsible for the outbreak, Taco Bell has stopped serving lettuce, cilantro, onions, pico de gallo, and guacamole at some locations.

Investigators have recently identified Taco Bell supplier Taylor Farms as a potential source of contamination in the Cyclospora outbreak, the New York Times reported.

Taylor Farms, a billion-dollar company and the world’s largest supplier of “healthy, wholesome” foods, has previously faced accusations of hiring illegal immigrants en masse and then exposing them to hazardous working conditions, according to The Guardian.

Six current and former workers told The Guardian that 600 of the company’s 900 workers were immigrants who had overstayed their “temporary” status for years. They alleged the company threatened to call Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) if they tried to unionize and fight for better working conditions and pay.

In November 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor proposed more than $1 million in penalties against Taylor Farms following the death of an employee at its New Jersey vegetable processing facility. The company also entered into a $5.3 million settlement with the State of California in 2021 after facing a class-action lawsuit over wage violations.

Taylor Farms did not respond to the Daily Caller’s request for comment.

There is no public evidence that Taylor Farms’ labor practices caused the current outbreak. Previous federal inspections, however, show how inadequate sanitation in produce operations can expose food to human fecal pathogens.

Similar risks have been documented elsewhere in the agricultural supply chain.

FDA and other regulatory authorities inspecting farms, packing houses, and processors in Mexico from 2013 to 2015 found conditions and practices that may have resulted in the contamination of cilantro and other produce with human fecal pathogens.”

Human feces and toilet paper were found in growing fields and around packing houses. Many toilets were inadequately maintained. Hand-washing facilities, when present, often lacked soap, toilet paper, running water, and paper towels. Food-contact surfaces were visibly dirty, and sewage-contaminated water was being used to wash cilantro.

The FDA also found that one firm’s hand-washing tank tested positive for Cyclospora.

Although these conditions were found in Mexico, an estimated 60 percent of U.S. farmworkers were born in Mexico.

Joe Chatham, director of government relations at the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), stopped short of linking illegal immigrant farmworkers to the current outbreak but said industries dependent on illegal labor frequently expose workers to worse conditions.

“Historically, FAIR has been concerned with what we see in a lot of industries dominated by illegal alien labor, or where there’s a disproportionate share of illegal alien labor. The working conditions in those industries are worsened, and the wages in those industries are depressed. It’s something that American workers won’t put up with,” Chatham told the Caller. “But what we see is that illegal alien workers don’t want to draw a spotlight on themselves, and they are willing to put up with those worse working conditions and those depressed wages.”

With close to 20 million illegal immigrants in the country, including many working in industries such as agriculture, Chatham said, “We have no reason to believe that that’s not the case currently as well.”

He added that, in addition to taking American jobs, illegal immigrants are often exposed to exploitation by employers, which could ultimately affect the quality and safety of the products reaching American consumers.

Vaughan said the same vulnerability can allow agricultural employers to evade requirements governing worker housing, sanitation, clothing, and transportation. She said similar corner-cutting may occur at packing and processing plants that employ illegal immigrants to handle food.

Vaughan also said that many people in the administration may have looked the other way because illegal immigrant labor has been used to prop up the agricultural industry.

A Health and Human Services (HHS) official emphasized that federal investigators have not linked any specific food source, employer, or labor practice to the current outbreak.

Under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the FDA is using established epidemiologic, laboratory, and traceback tools to investigate Cyclospora with the CDC and state and local partners, the official told the Caller.

“Protecting the nation’s food supply is a core FDA responsibility, and the agency has the expertise, personnel, and resources necessary to detect, investigate, and respond to foodborne illness outbreaks and take regulatory action when warranted,” the official said. “Additionally, FDA investigators were not impacted by staffing changes or reductions in force.” (RELATED: Sham Hospices, Fake Skin Grafts: HHS Watchdog’s Report Exposes Billions In Fraud)

The official also told the Caller that while funding for state foodborne disease activities has remained stable, HHS has not confirmed a specific food source for the current outbreak.