USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins told the Western Governors Assn. Tuesday the administration wants to improve the efficiency of the H-2A guestworker program and make it easier for growers to use, The Packer reported.
The administration reportedly will have more details soon, as well as announcements from the Department of Labor and the Department of Homeland Security.
“We have all been directed by the president to come up with solutions to fix and solve this problem immediately,” Rollins said in the meeting in Santa Fe, N.M.
Rollins said Congress will play a key role in larger H-2A visa reform and significant changes won’t happen, “without our partners on the Hill.”
H-2A reform is also a bipartisan issue, Rollins noted, and there is a chance in the short term to alleviate the burden of the application process, the article said.
Rollins had visited a farm in New Mexico that provides a quarter million heads of lettuce to local schools and communities that currently doesn’t have the capability when needed to hire more workers for their harvest. “So they spend tens of thousands, if not more, on legal help to get them through,” Rollins said.
The Packer reported that, according to Rollins, the administration seeks to improve processes to ensure growers have the workforce needed.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division recently announced it would suspend enforcement of the Biden Administration’s 2024 farmworker rule. The decision was designed to provide clarity for American farmers navigating the H-2A program, while also aligning with Trump’s commitment to strictly enforcing U.S. immigration laws.
Multiple federal court injunctions have created significant legal uncertainty, inconsistency, and operational challenges for farmers lawfully employing H-2A workers. The field assistance bulletin clarifies that the department will not be enforcing the 2024 final rule effective immediately — providing critical predictability for agricultural employers as litigation continues and as the department considers further regulatory action.
The rule’s implementation had already been suspended by the department because of federal injunctions. This guidance does not change existing regulations or limit the Wage and Hour Division’s authority to enforce H-2A requirements put in place prior to the 2024 final rule.
It supersedes any contrary or conflicting guidance to field staff but does not create legally enforceable obligations or alter any statutory or regulatory requirements, ensuring full enforcement of U.S. immigration laws.
A 2024 USDA Farm Labor Survey found that the legal H-2A Guestworker Program creates 384,000 jobs and has 22,000 farms participating. Roughly 500,000 farm workers are undocumented, however.
