USDA Secretary Suggests Medicaid Recipients, Automation Replace Migrant Farmworkers

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins recently stated that President Donald Trump's administration will continue its mass deportation campaign against undocumented migrant farmworkers with no amnesty, but in a "strategic way." Rollins suggested that the resulting labor shortage in agriculture could be addressed through a combination of increased automation and mobilizing "100% American participation," specifically citing the 34 million able-bodied adults enrolled in Medicaid as a potential labor source. However, critics have noted that many Medicaid recipients already work, live in urban areas far from farms, or are otherwise unable to perform farm labor, making this plan unrealistic and flawed. Rollins emphasized that Medicaid work requirements, established under Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," would help shift more people into the workforce, though advocates argue many beneficiaries are not available for such jobs. The administration's shifting stance on allowing undocumented immigrants to work on farms has caused uncertainty, with Trump himself considering temporary passes for farmworkers despite the overall deportation strategy. The ongoing deportations have raised concerns about disruptions to the U.S. food supply and the feasibility of replacing migrant labor with automation and domestic workers.