Overview
- ICE recently detained a worker leaving a Jennie-O shift in Willmar, with additional operations reported near dairy farms.
- Deputy Agriculture Commissioner Andrea Vaubel said immigrant labor is staying home and urged ICE to leave Minnesota, warning the food supply and grocery prices could be affected.
- Democratic Sen. Aric Putnam said many workers avoiding shifts are here legally, noting Minnesota’s roughly 3,500 H-2A seasonal farm employees.
- Minnesota Farmers Union president Gary Wertish warned that labor gaps threaten narrow spring planting windows in a sector with about 68,000 farms supporting roughly 388,000 jobs.
- Farmers cite California’s 2025 surge in enforcement—over $3 billion in crop losses and steep local revenue declines—as a cautionary example while Minnesota’s ultimate impact remains uncertain.