US Lowers Costs for Hiring Foreign Farmworkers to Address Labor Shortage

(MENAFN) The US administration is reducing costs for farmers to hire immigrant farmworkers on temporary visas in an effort to tackle labor shortages worsened by immigration enforcement and border crackdowns, according to reports.

The Labor Department reportedly stated that the near-complete halt in undocumented immigration, combined with insufficient legal labor, threatens domestic food production and contributes to rising consumer prices.

To address this, the department revised the method for calculating wages for temporary foreign farmworkers under the H-2A visa program, effectively reducing hourly pay by between $1 and $7 depending on the state.

The Economic Policy Institute estimated that the adjustment could cut annual wages by $2 billion for guest workers and by $3 billion for US-based farmworkers.

US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins defended the change as providing farmers with the necessary tools to maintain production.

However, the move drew sharp criticism. The United Farm Workers union warned it could displace longtime domestic laborers and expose migrant workers to greater abuse. Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies said the adjustment encourages foreign migration while discouraging automation, countering goals the administration had publicly promoted.

Data reportedly shows a lack of domestic interest in farmwork, with only 182 applications submitted out of 415,000 job postings in 2025.

“I don’t think it’s fair that our pay will be lowered so much,” said a longtime farmworker in Idaho, whose hourly wage is set to drop from $17 to $11.

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