Trump Labor Department Warns Immigration Crackdown Threatens US Food Supply

The Trump administration's aggressive immigration crackdown has significantly impacted the U.S. agricultural workforce, with around 40% of farm workers being undocumented immigrants. The Department of Labor has officially acknowledged that this crackdown is causing a critical labor shortage on farms, posing a risk of "supply shock-induced food shortages" and threatening the stability of domestic food production and prices. Due to the reduced inflow of undocumented workers and the lack of available legal farm labor, farms are increasingly reliant on the H-2A visa program to bring in temporary foreign workers, despite these workers lacking basic labor protections and bargaining rights. The administration's new labor rule seeks to lower farmworker wages by modifying how agricultural wages are affected by foreign labor, justifying it through the urgent need to prevent food supply disruptions. This admission contrasts with public statements from Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, who suggested a shift toward automation and 100% American farm labor, a claim not supported by the Department of Labor's findings. Experts warn that the only viable solution to the crisis, as recognized by the administration, is hiring more foreign workers at lower wages, which could transfer income from farmworkers to agribusiness employers while risking further instability in the food supply chain.