MOULTRIE, Ga. — A recent visit from immigration officers targeted only  a few people in Colquitt County, but still caused some consternation among migrant workers and the farmers who employ them.

A number of people in the low double digits, perhaps 10 or 12 or so, reportedly were picked up in the county, Colquitt County Sheriff Rod Howell said.

Four farmers contacted him to report having workers picked up by officers with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is known by its acronym of ICE, Howell said.

“I talked to one farmer who said they had picked up several,” he said. “They were en route to work. They got them (riding) in a van.”

Howell declined to give the names of the farmers who contacted him.

The federal action was not a blanket sweep, but targeted certain individuals.

“That’s the thing supposedly they’re doing, is going after those with police records,” Howell said.

Among those detained by the agency were those with misdemeanor records for such things as driving under the influence and multiple no-license arrests.

The enforcement action began about two weeks ago and appears to have winded down. While it was under way, many in the county’s large Latino community were spooked.

Howell does not want migrants to be afraid to call law enforcement because they are afraid of being held for immigration officials.

For much of the year Latinos have been targeted by armed robbers some nine times, with two of the victims receiving minor gunshot wounds. Gunshots were fired in four of the nine assaults on Latino males. In all of the incidents the robbers targeted men who were outside their residences, and in some of the cases one or more also went inside the house to hold up additional people.

“They’re concerned they’re going to be picked up if they call to report crimes,” Howell said. “That’s why I speak to as many Hispanic people as I can to tell them our job is not to enforce immigration (laws), and if they’re victims of a crime they need to report it, and we’re going to do our best to solve their crimes.”

The presence of ICE agents did cause some fear in the Latino community, said Joleen Johnson, a Latina resident of Moultrie who operates a tax service business.

Some were so panicked they hid out, even though the agents were not here to grab random people off the streets — or farms — Johnson said.

Johnson said she was “aggravated” that “some people are telling people not to go to work, don’t send your children to school. The scare is what has this community in an uproar. It just creates so much chaos.”

Residents in Colquitt County, documented or not, have faith in law enforcement here that they will report when they are victims of crime, Johnson said. This trust has grown over the previous two decades or so  and makes it more likely that migrant workers will report when they are victims than perhaps had been the case in the past.

Colquitt County residents who were detained by ICE were not randomly picked up.

“They have a list,” Johnson said. “They have people here they’re looking for. I can understand how some (in the community) feel. We just need to educate people. It’s not anything that (local officials) control.

“It’s sad, but I also know people have rules they have to go by. Things have gotten so much better. For the Hispanic community, Moultrie is a wonderful place to live.”

Migrant workers are integral to Colquitt County agricultural fruit and vegetable growers. The income paid to Georgia vegetable growers was some $1.1 billion in 2015, the last year for which figures are available.

Colquitt County was the state’s number one agricultural county overall in 2015, with total income of $473.23 million. Excepting broiler-ingegrator income, the county still came out on top with farm income of $347.48 million.

These figures are for income paid to farmers for sales only, and do not include other payments such as crop insurance or any others.

Colquitt County was number one in cabbage, growing 69 percent of the crop grown in Georgia with income of $34.35 million. It also was number in zucchini, which brought in $$6.6 million, and $2.1 million for Southern peas.

The county  was number two in greens with 22 percent of the crop harvested that year behind Tift County’s 32 percent. Colquitt County had sales of greens totaling $9.43 million.

The county also was number two for squash, at $9 million, eggplant, good for $7.12 million, and $14.46 million in sales of bell peppers. Colquitt and Tift counties accounted for two-thirds of cantaloupe, with Colquitt County’s share at 27 percent of the crop and accounting for income totaling $5.22 million.

Colquitt County was third in cucumber production behind Brooks and Echols counties for income of $12.26 million.