U.S. Farm Workers Sue Trump Administration to Save American Farm Jobs and Wages
Washington, D.C. – Today, 18 individual farm workers, the United Farm Workers of America, and the UFW Foundation filed a lawsuit to reverse the Trump administration’s wage cut rule that dramatically undercuts the wages of U.S. workers in agriculture and risks drastically expanding the exploitative H2A agricultural guestworker program. The H-2A guestworker program already has no annual visa cap and has grown 7-fold since 2005, with nearly 400,000 foreign workers in 2024 alone. The Trump wage cut rule represents one of the largest wealth transfers from workers to employers in U.S. agricultural history.
On October 2, the Department of Labor announced a new rule that cuts the wages of H-2A workers between $5 to $7 per hour, directly transferring $2.46 billion dollars in wages from workers to employers annually, according to the administration’s own estimates. This rule will also immediately lower the wages of any U.S. citizen workers sharing job sites with H-2A workers, and make it financially easier to hire foreign H-2A guest workers over U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents. The rule was released without giving the public an opportunity to provide feedback, as required by the Administrative Procedure Act. The first Trump administration attempted to implement a similar rule in 2020 but was stopped by a UFW and UFW Foundation lawsuit. A federal court found the 2020 rule adversely affected the wages and working conditions of American workers, a violation of federal law.
The new worker lawsuit seeks to reverse President Trump’s wage cut rule and to protect American farm worker jobs and wages. It was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California. Plaintiffs are represented by Covington & Burling, Farmworker Justice, Martinez Aguilasocho Law, and the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation. Plaintiffs include U.S. farm workers from Michigan, Georgia, California, Washington, Texas, and Missouri.
“I am U.S.-born, U.S. citizen and I harvest strawberries while also going to school,” said Isabel Panfilo, 23, a plaintiff in the lawsuit and a farm worker in Ventura County, California. “When I run out of financial aid, I am responsible for covering my tuition. It’s difficult with the wages I earn. I work hard to pay for school and be able to support and uplift my family. The work that I do is extremely difficult and challenging. Picking strawberries and packing them is extremely skilled work. You are held to very high standards: you are expected to be on time and work hard and fast to fill a lot of boxes to earn good money. The threat of guest workers is really concerning because they are planning to replace local workers with H-2A workers that will make finding work more difficult. Although I work very hard, it is difficult to cover everyday expenses. Recently, after the extreme rains, we are expected to show up to work to harvest berries in knee deep water while it’s extremely cold. The work that farm workers do everyday is extremely difficult and deserves a lot more respect than it gets.”
“There is nothing “America First” about expanding exploitative guest worker programs that undercut and displace American workers,” said Teresa Romero, President of the United Farm Workers. “President Trump’s wage cuts serve only one purpose: they make it easier for big agricultural corporations to exploit cheap foreign labor through the H-2A program and replace American farm workers, or avoid paying them a fair market wage. Farm workers, and the rural communities across America they sustain, need and deserve fair wages and job security, not a race to the bottom with an endless supply of cheap foreign labor. If this President will not fight for American farm workers, then we will.”
“The UFW Foundation is proud to stand with courageous farm workers and our partners in challenging these callous wage cuts,” said Erica Lomeli Corcoran, Chief Executive Officer of the UFW Foundation. “The farm workers who feed all of us while performing back-breaking work out in the unforgiving sun for hours a day should be able to also feed themselves and their families with the wages they make. Instead, this administration is cutting their wages, selling out American workers to please big agriculture and corporate monopolies. Reducing the American workers who feed our nation to living in poverty is immoral and unlawful. It was illegal when the first administration tried it, and it’s illegal now. We will see them in court.”
“Farm workers are among the most vulnerable members of our society. They tirelessly work long hours in difficult conditions, often for poverty-level wages,” said Kuntal Cholera, Special Counsel with Covington & Burling LLP. “Rather than protect those farm workers, the Department of Labor has unfortunately decided to issue a rule that will likely further depress their wages. We are proud to represent UFW, the UFW Foundation, and individual farm workers to help ensure that the Department of Labor honors its statutory obligation to protect U.S. farm worker wages from the effects of temporary foreign labor.”
“This litigation challenges a rule that enables U.S. agricultural employers to pay foreign workers significantly less wages,” said Ron Estrada, Chief Executive Officer of Farmworker Justice. “Although the rule is designed to drastically reduce wages of H-2A visa holders and U.S. workers who work for H-2A employers, it will undoubtedly hurt all U.S. workers in agriculture.”
“The Trump administration’s attempt to cut farmworker wages without due process represents what we believe is both illegal action and an improper transfer of money to the wealthiest,” said Mario Martinez, President at Martinez Aguilasocho Law, Inc. “The law requires honesty and fairness, not shortcuts, and no administration gets to ignore the rules just to take money out of farm workers’ pockets. Farmworkers already work at the lowest wages in the country and give everything they have in the fields to feed the nation, and now their wages are being cut even more so growers can have more profits. We’ve seen this kind of disregard for workers and illegal conduct before from this administration, and we’re going to the courts because farm workers deserve respect, a voice, and a government that follows the law.
“We join our partners to stop this Administration from unlawfully and arbitrarily cutting wages of farmworkers across the nation,” said Amagda Perez, Executive Director of CRLA Foundation. “Farm workers toil the soil under harsh and unforgiving working conditions to feed this country, yet they struggle to keep a roof over their heads and feed their families. This Administration’s wage cut adversely affects farmworkers and their families.”
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