Ag Policy Blog

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. -- President Donald Trump must take the lead if there is to be long-term immigration reform, Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., told the American Sugar Alliance's International Sweetener Symposium here on Tuesday.

Asked by Luther Markwart, executive vice president of the American Sugarbeet Growers Association, if the apparent closure of the southern border to illegal immigrants means that Congress will support immigration reform, Moolenaar said, "I would hope so, but it is going to take the president to take the lead on this."

Trump continues to tease that he is working on a plan to help farmers. Trump said Tuesday that the administration will release new regulation around migrant farm labor, Politico reported. Trump suggested the White House is working on a program where workers would "touchback" to their home country and enter legally, he said.

Many members of Congress don't understand agricultural labor, Moolenaar told the sugar alliance. Moolenaar noted that he has introduced a bill to freeze the adverse wage rate that determines how much foreign laborers are paid, but said the bill is in the House Judiciary Committee, which doesn't have many members with an understanding of rural America.

Moolenaar described freezing the adverse wage rate as "a band-aid," but said he has also spoken with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer about it.

Kristi Boswell, a public policy counsel with the law firm of Alston & Bird, said she is "cautiously optimistic there is a desire to provide stability" for farm labor. The Farm Workforce Modernization Act has been reintroduced in the House, she noted.

Every sector of agriculture is short of labor, Boswell said, and about half of farm workers are working with "fraudulent documents," she said.

Farmers are worried about raids on their farms, but the Trump administration's raids are focused on year-round labor rather than seasonal workers, she said.

Trump supports farmers, but he has also made promises on immigration that put agriculture "in the crosshairs," Boswell said. When Trump said he recognized the labor needs of farmers, he got pushback from the Make America Great Again movement, she said.

The H-2A program brought 384,000 seasonal workers into the United States in 2024 because farmers are desperate for workers, but it has many problems, including how to write job descriptions for jobs on farms that do not correspond exactly to labor categories.

The Trump administration has suspended enforcement of Biden-era farm labor policies and the Agriculture Department would like to reduce farm labor costs, she said. The Labor Department has also set up an office of immigration policy, she noted.

On farm labor issues, Boswell said, "The challenge is politics and how the [MAGA] base will react."

Moolenaar, who chairs the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, said that developing policy toward China is difficult because "it is a very complicated relationship."

"How do we push them away militarily but maintain relationships for inputs and food exports?" he asked.

In a separate presentation, Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., who is running for the Democratic nomination for the Senate, noted that she also serves on the China committee and said she and Moolenaar work together to address Michigan's relationship with China.

Also see, "Congresswoman Says Farmworker Immigration Reform is Possible, But Senate Must Lead," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

Jerry Hagstrom can be reached at jhagstrom@nationaljournal.com

Follow him on social platform X @hagstromreport

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