Overview

• In an Oct. 2 Federal Register filing, the Labor Department said stricter enforcement has created a structural farm‑labor shortage that could cause “supply shock‑induced food shortages” and higher prices.
• The rule now in effect revises the Adverse Effect Wage Rate for H‑2A workers and permits certain housing costs to be shifted to migrants, changes critics say will lower take‑home pay.
• Officials cited a 93% drop in illegal border crossings and estimated about 42% of the crop workforce is unable to enter, faces removal, or is leaving the U.S.
• The department concluded U.S. workers “will not make themselves readily available in sufficient numbers,” contradicting Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins’s claim of a soon‑to‑be “100% American” farm workforce.
• Farmworker groups, including United Farm Workers, forecast steep pay losses from the rule, estimating a $2.46 billion annual reduction for workers under the expanded guest‑worker reliance.