Ag Groups, Others Call for Labor Reform

OMAHA (DTN) -- The challenges of farm labor across the country are suddenly a national concern as the debate over aggressive deportations clashes with domestic food policy.

Still, increased immigration raids on farms, meat-processing plants and other businesses such as restaurants are putting a national spotlight on farm labor and the broken immigration system.

The American Business Immigration Coalition on Tuesday had planned to talk to journalists about President Donald Trump's decision to offer a reprieve on workplace raids and call for Congress to respond with supporting legislation. Instead, the group's leaders raised new concerns about the administration's quick policy reversal. Group leaders noted businesses are already having a hard time finding workers with a 4% unemployment rate.

"This is a workforce issue. These workers are the backbone of many of our industries," said Rebecca Shi, CEO of the coalition.

In a matter of days, the Trump administration went from the president calling for his team to show some leniency to farms to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem instructing enforcement teams to step up their efforts and increase overall arrests. In a letter obtained by the New York Times, Noem stated, "worksite enforcement remains a cornerstone of our efforts," though large-scale raids must be coordinated through leadership.

Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., the chair of the House Freedom Caucus, lent some support to business leaders on Tuesday by joining their call. Harris, who also chairs the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, said deportations of criminals need to run parallel with figuring how to provide the workforce the country needs, otherwise President Trump won't see the economy succeed like he wants. Harris agreed there needs to be reforms to the visa programs, H-2A, H-2B and others.

"I believe that now may be the time to have Congress look again at these categories, revise the categories, create new categories, if necessary," Harris said. "As the president again attempts to deport people who are here, especially criminals who are here illegally, clearly the workforce issues are significant. As was mentioned, with an unemployment rate of 4%, you're not going to find American workers for a lot of these tasks. You haven't found them even when the unemployment rate was higher."

Harris later suggested there needs to be some form of legal pathway for people who are in the country working and paying their taxes. He said the needs go beyond agriculture to other industries such as construction as well.

"As we make some moves to bring some of the industry back to the United States, especially on specialty crops, we realize that we're going to need workers to do that. But it's broader than just agriculture. As we've mentioned, it's the horse industry, it's the construction industry. In my district, it's the people who pick crabs for a living. We need all of them, and I think the administration is coming to realize that to keep the economy going, we have to have a rational policy, which as we have talked about, probably won't include amnesty, but will include the ability to retain workers in the United States to make sure that these industries keep going."

Still, agricultural groups are highlighting raids in states such as California, Louisiana, Nebraska and New Mexico just since the start of June.

Beverly Idsinga, executive director of Dairy Producers of New Mexico, talked about an I-9 audit on a New Mexico dairy farm that happened June 3. More than 20 vehicles carrying federal agents showed up on the farm, Idsinga said. They came in full gear with weapons drawn and barred the producer and his son access to certain areas, she said. Eleven workers were arrested, and the farmer was forced to fire another 24 workers who were on a list provided by law enforcement.

"He went from 55 employees to 20 employees in a matter of hours."

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other authorities on Tuesday raided a Louisiana racetrack, Delta Downs Racetrack, Casino and Hotel, arresting more than 80 people in the process. As that raid was happening, Dale Romans, president of the Kentucky Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, was explaining that more than 70% of workers in the thoroughbred industry are immigrants.

"We need workers to feed and groom these horses every day. We need people to do these jobs," Romans said.

Matt Teagarden, CEO of the Kansas Livestock Association, said raids on agriculture, livestock and meat processing facilities both disrupt the food supply and contribute to higher prices. Beyond workers who are undocumented, Teagarden said the raids contribute to fear across communities and lead fully legal workers to stay at home out of fear of being swept up in these enforcement actions.

"These actions contribute to food-price increases," Teagarden said. He added, "It's really clear to me that the people pushing for these raids that target farms and feedyards and dairies have no idea how farms operate. To me, we have a choice here. We can use imported workers, or we can import our food."

Teagarden said livestock producers are encouraged by what the president said last week. "I think he recognizes the need for a balanced approach on this issue, focusing on securing the border and removing violent criminals that are here in the country."

"Reform is important. The system today is dysfunctional."

Other industries are also feeling the impact of increased enforcement actions. Emily Williams Knight, CEO of the Texas Restaurant Association, said restaurants make up the largest overall private-sector employers in the state. Right now, restaurants aren't opening in some areas of Texas because workers are staying home.

"We see restaurants that don't have enough kitchen staff," Knight said. "That also is a massive economic impact. So those people aren't coming to work, they're not spending in their communities."

Knight said the impact is spreading across the Texas economy because there is reduced traffic in retail areas. "I can tell you across Texas we are feeling it."

Despite the DHS reversal, Knight said restaurant owners are "hopeful" because there is a lot of back and forth going on and dialogue about the issues right now.

"There is a real opportunity to hear from the business community about these impacts directly to the workforce," Knight said.

Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, has been talking about the importance of fixing agricultural labor since he became president of the group in 2016. Duvall on Tuesday expressed concern over reports that immigration enforcement focus will resume on farms and ranches, especially after Trump had noted the circumstances farms face requires "a different approach to enforcement practices." DHS's new guidance directly contradicts the president's position and commitments Trump has made to farmers and ranchers, Duvall said.

"Agriculture is inherently labor intensive -- farmers cannot care for crops and animals without the contributions of the men and women willing to do the hard work. These are dedicated employees who work alongside farm families every day," Duvall said.

Business and agricultural leaders talked about the support of House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn "GT" Thompson, R-Pa., in fixing agricultural labor. Reps. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., and Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., have again reintroduced their bill, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, but it only has four other co-sponsors out of 435 House members. That bill also would not flow through the House Agriculture Committee but must go through the House Judiciary Committee where its chairman, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, has not shown any interest in addressing agricultural labor challenges.

Duvall also called on Congress to prioritize fixing the agricultural labor crisis that the president identified.

"Current agriculture workforce programs are broken," Duvall said. "They do not meet the year-round needs of farmers, and they've become so expensive they are out of reach for many farmers. Unfortunately, domestic workers do not apply for farm jobs, despite aggressive hiring efforts. Without farm workers, vegetables will be left in the fields, fruit will remain unpicked, and cows will go unmilked. The end result is a reduced food supply and higher grocery prices for all of America's families."

See, "ICE Immigration Raids on Farms Will Resume Despite Trump's Take on Ag Labor," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

**

Editor's note: During the next few weeks, DTN will publish a series of stories focusing on ag labor challenges and solutions. Most of the stories first appeared in the Progressive Farmer Summer issue, "Labor Pains." Our online series will also include bonus content that didn't appear in the magazine. For links to those articles, see, https://www.dtnpf.com/….

Chris Clayton can be reached at Chris.Clayton@dtn.com

Follow him on social platform X @ChrisClaytonDTN

(c) Copyright 2025 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.