Recent U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) rules aim to strengthen protections for H-2A agricultural workers, addressing vulnerabilities like retaliation and employer accountability. While the reforms mark progress, they already face scrutiny and legal challenges.
The Trump-Vance administration’s arrival adds uncertainty to the H-2A program. President Trump has promised the largest deportation effort in U.S. history, raising concerns among farmer lobby groups, immigration advocates, and business experts. The administration may ultimately need to expand the H-2A visa program to fill employment gaps.
H-2A workers play a vital role in agriculture but remain vulnerable to workplace abuses, according to DOL. Seeking to promote employer accountability, DOL recently amended the H-2A program in its Final Rule. According to Former Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Sue, the changes aim to ensure workers “are treated fairly, have a voice in their workplace, and are able to perform their work safely.”
The Final Rule expands anti-retaliation protections, clarifies termination conditions, and allows workers to receive guests, like lawyers, at employer-provided housing. It also prohibits employers from withholding identification documents and mandates seatbelts in employer-provided transportation.
The H-2A program allows U.S. agricultural employers to hire foreign workers temporarily or seasonally when there are insufficient qualified and available U.S. workers, provided it does not negatively affect domestic wages.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), 48,000 H-2A workers were certified by DOL in 2005. By 2023, that number exceeded 378,000.
Each spring, about 1,500 H-2A workers arrive on Virginia’s Eastern Shore to plant and harvest labor-intensive crops, Stacy Rhodes of the Agricultural Workers Advocacy Coalition (AWAC), tells Food Tank. H-2A workers are “absolutely critical to the agricultural economy here,” Rhodes says.
AWAC commended DOL for scrutinizing the program. The Alliance to End Human Trafficking applauded DOL’s efforts “to protect the basic human rights of H-2A workers.”
However, the Final Rule has drawn criticism for prioritizing minor changes while overlooking systemic issues like transportation access and worker isolation.
While the seatbelt requirement may reduce accidents, most H-2A workers lack access to vehicles altogether, says Maggie Gray, Adelphi University Professor and Author of Labor and the Locavore: The Making of a Comprehensive Food Ethic. According to AWAC, employers rarely provide transportation, even for medical emergencies.
H-2A workers often live in remote labor camps with limited digital connectivity, isolating them throughout employment, Rhodes tells Food Tank. This seclusion makes reporting abuses difficult, and fear of retaliation deters self-advocacy. Gray notes that workers risk losing employment, immigration status, or future job opportunities if they assert their rights.
Although the Final Rule seeks to strengthen worker protections, enforcement remains a challenge. The rules “are only as good as the implementation,” Gray tells Food Tank.
The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) reports that DOL’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), tasked with federal enforcement, is “underfunded and understaffed,” with 800 WHD investigators monitoring 165 million workers. The U.S. Department of State describes oversight of temporary worker programs as “weak,” while EPI calls it “woefully inadequate.”
The Final Rule also faces legal challenges. The American Farm Bureau Federation and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sued DOL, alleging regulatory overreach and unconstitutional restrictions on employer speech.
The Southeastern Legal Foundation, representing states and farmer groups, argued that the Rule unlawfully grants temporary foreign workers more rights than domestic workers. The Workers and Farmer Labor Association also filed suit, calling the changes an “audit nightmare” filled with “grenades and traps.”
Federal courts have blocked enforcement in 21 states and against multiple employers, issuing a nationwide stay on certain provisions while legal proceedings continue. The Rule otherwise remains in effect.
Amid legislative changes and court challenges, the Trump administration adds uncertainty to the H-2A program. President Trump has promised the “largest deportation” in U.S. history and signed executive orders with broad immigration implications.
David Ortega, Professor of Food Economics at Michigan State University, warns that deportations could “shock the food supply chain.” At least 70 percent of U.S. crop harvesters are foreign-born, according to DOL, and nearly half of the nation’s approximately 2 million farm workers lack legal status.
U.S. workers are unlikely to fill the gap. According to DOL, Americans accept only 5 percent of H-2A job offers, and many of those hired fail to report to work or resign. Immigrant farm workers perform “critical roles that many U.S.-born workers are either unable or unwilling to take on,” Ortega says.
To address labor shortages, the Trump-Vance administration may expand the H-2 visa program. Agricultural lobbying groups including International Fresh Produce Association have urged Trump to consider expansion, and Trump Senior Advisor Jason Miller discussed the possibility.
Meanwhile, newly confirmed U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins pledged to implement Trump’s agenda while supporting farmers and ranchers. Responding to Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL)’s questions about deportation and labor, Rollins expressed interest in “reforming and perhaps modernizing the H-2A program.”
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Photo courtesy of Bernd Dittrich, Unsplash
