(UPI) - Mass deportations of up to 3 million undocumented immigrants are expected to begin in January, when President-elect Donald Trump takes the oath of office and begins to turn his campaign promises into government policy.

While Trump claims criminals are his primary target, reports suggest there aren't enough of them to actually reach his goal. A prominent migration think tank estimates that only 820,000 undocumented immigrants have been convicted of a crime.

So that means Trump would have to deport several million immigrants without criminal records to reach his goal. And that's likely just a start, given Trump's promise to deport all 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States.

What he doesn't seem to realize is how integral undocumented workers are to America's food supply. Our scholarship at Cornell combined with research in other areas of agriculture reveal the significant impact his plans would have on the foods we eat and beverages we consume each and every day.