The Trump administration’s attempt to cut costs for farmers at the expense of migrant workers has been ruled illegal.
“A federal judge in California ruled Wednesday that the Trump administration illegally lowered the wages of migrant farmworkers, in a move the government said was intended to offset the effects of its immigration policies.
In his 28-page order, U.S. District Judge Kirk E. Sherriff declared a Labor Department policy that lowered pay for foreign farmworkers in the H-2A visa program by about $7 to $5 an hour ‘unlawful.’
The Trump administration implemented the rule last fall without a comment period, saying it would reduce farmers’ labor costs by $24 billion over the next decade.
The administration said the immediate pay cuts were needed to offer the agriculture industry cheaper foreign labor as farmers grappled with the impact of immigration enforcement on their labor supply.
The United Farm Workers union and multiple farmworkers who are U.S. citizens sued the Trump administration last year, saying the rule “’dramatically undercut’ wages for U.S. farmworkers in violation of federal immigration law.
‘This decision recognizes the important and essential work of the men and women who put food on our tables and that farm workers should get paid fairly,’ Teresa Romero, president of the United Farm Workers, said in a statement responding to the ruling.
Sherriff did not cancel the lower pay rates but ordered the Labor Department to quickly introduce new wages consistent with his decision and inform employers that they may owe back wages.
The Labor Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.”
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