The United Farm Workers (UFW), along with multiple U.S. Citizen Farmworkers, Sued the Trump (R) Administration on Friday, over a New Rule that Substantially Lowers Pay for Seasonal Guest Workers in Agriculture. The UFW said the Labor Department Rule, which Lowers Pay for the H-2A Agricultural Visa Program by about $5 to $7 an Hour, “dramatically undercuts” wages for U.S. Farmworkers, in Violation of Federal Immigration Law.
“Farmworkers are struggling to support their families. Many of them are U.S. citizens and legal residents,” Teresa Romero, President of the United Farm Workers union, said in a Phone Interview. “If there is really a shortage, wages need to go up, not down. That’s what a normal labor market would do.” IThe Trump Administration implemented the Rule on Oct. 2nd, 2025, saying it would Reduce Farmers’ Labor Costs by $24 billion over the next 10 years, offering the Agriculture Industry Cheaper Foreign Labor, as it Reels from the Impact of Trump’s Trade Wars, and has raised Alarms about Immigration Raids that have Targeted some Farms.
The UFW, which Filed the Lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, is seeking to Reverse the Pay Cuts, which it alleges Violate Laws that Prevent the Guest-Worker Program from driving down Pay for U.S. Farmworkers. The Pay Cuts apply to U.S. Citizen FTarm Workers who share Worksites with Migrant H-2A Workers, but the union says they will also Lower Wages across the Industry and Related Work and, Paradoxically, Drive Up Incentives to Rely on the H-2A Program. The Guest-Worker Program will Grow by more than 120,000 Workers by 2034 under the New Pay Model, according to Trump Administration Estimates.
Labor Advocates have Criticized the Program for Exposing Migrant Laborers, who are Tied to a Single Employer to Labor Abuses, including Wage Theft and Unsafe Working conditions. The Trump Administration said in a Filing in the Federal Register in October, that the Rule is a response to “ample data showing immediate dangers to the American food supply” caused by its own Immigration Policies, which have Effectively Sealed Off the U.S.-Mexico Border. The Union Alleges that the Trump Administration also Violated the Law by Implementing the Rule without a Comment Period before it took effect. In 2020, during Trump’s First Term, the Labor Department moved to Implement a Wage Freeze for Migrant H-2A Farmworkers. But a Federal Court Blocked the Rule, in Response to a UFW Lawsuit, saying it would Drive Down Wages for American Farmworkers as well.
The Agriculture Industry has Increasingly turned to the H-2A Program to Source Workers, mainly from Mexico, in recent years. The Labor Department Certified about 391,000 Positions in Fiscal 2024. Farmers in: California, North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, and Washington, are among the Top Users of the Program, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Data shows. Under the New Labor Department (DOL) Rule, Pay for Agricultural Guest Workers in California, will fall from $19.97 to $16.45 an hour, according to the United Farm Workers. In Georgia, Wages will Drop from $16.08 to $12.27 an hour, and in Washington, pay will drop from $19.82 to $16.53 an hour.
Crisanto Serrano, a Plaintiff on the Lawsuit and a U.S. Citizen, expects His Pay on the Hops Farm where he Works in Washington’s Yakima Valley, to Fall by more than $3 an hour in 2026, because of the New Rule. “I do not like that farmworkers who are already living in the United States are having their wages downgraded,” Serrano said in Spanish. He has Worked on Farms in the U.S. for more than 40 years and became a U.S. Citizen in the early 1990s. “Our rent, food, and electricity bills, are sky-high and go up every year. I worry about what will happen to us.”
A Significant Share of U.S. Crop Workers are Undocumented Immigrants. In 2021 and 2022, the most recent period for which Survey Data is Available, 38% were U.S. citizens, and 58% were Authorized to Work in the U.S., according to a Labor Department Report. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins (R) said earlier this year that the U.S. Farm Workforce will become “100 percent American” as a Result of Mass Deportations. But the Labor Department noted in its Reasoning for Lowering Barriers to the H-2A Program in October, that “qualified and eligible U.S. workers will not make themselves available in sufficient numbers,” to Fill Open Agricultural Jobs.
UFW President Romero Balked at the Idea that there is No available Agricultural Workforce in the U.S. “Yes, we have undocumented workers in agriculture, but we have a large percentage of workers that are U.S. citizens or legal residents,” Romero said. “And we are displacing U.S. citizens to bring in H-2A workers. It just doesn’t make sense.”
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