U.S. Federal Court Orders Labor Department to Publish New Wage Rule by End of Year After Finding Trump Wage Cut Illegal
Fresno, Calif.— A federal court held that the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has until December 30, 2026 to issue a new rule setting the wages of farm workers on the H-2A agricultural guest worker visa and U.S. workers who work alongside them.
The court’s order, issued on October 2, 2026, requires DOL to produce a new methodology for the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (or AEWR). This new regulation must be consistent with the court’s August 26 ruling that found that the Trump administration’s October 2025 AEWR rule is illegal because it adversely affects U.S. workers by undercutting their wages, in violation of federal law. The August 26 ruling also required DOL to give notice to employers that they may be responsible for backpay between that notice, September 2, and when a new, lawful rule is issued.
The administration’s illegal October 2025 wage cut rule, which remains in effect, cut farm worker wages between $3-7 per hour,, and transferred $2.46 billion from workers to employers annually according to DOL’s own estimates.. The United Farm Workers, UFW Foundation, and 18 individual farm worker plaintiffs challenged the rule shortly after it was issued last year.
The question of whether workers paid the unlawful wage rates will be eligible for backpay will be argued and addressed by the court after DOL issues the new rule.
“Trump’s illegal wage cut will now have been in effect for over a year, costing farm workers money, jobs, stress, and indignity,” said Teresa Romero, President of the United Farm Workers. “Even after the wage rule was found to be illegally undercutting the jobs and wages of American workers, the Trump administration has dragged its feet, fighting to keep money out of farm workers’ pockets. We are grateful that a hard deadline has now been set for the end of these illegal wage cuts, before farm workers endure another year of hardship.
“The federal courts have spoken: the Trump administration’s wage cuts are illegal,,” said Erica Lomeli Corcoran, chief executive officer of the UFW Foundation. “For over a year, farm workers have been working for illegal wages that are so drastic that workers cannot afford the rising costs of rent, groceries, gas, medications, and other basic needs for survival. The administration must now issue a new, lawful rule that complies with the federal court’s order and does not adversely affect U.S. workers’ wages.”
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