Trump administration suspends enforcement of Biden-era farmworker rule

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By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump’s administration said on Friday it was suspending enforcement of a “burdensome” farmworker rule from former President Joe Biden’s administration.

The 2024 rule provided protection for workplace organizing to foreign farmworkers in the U.S. on H-2A visas. The U.S. Department of Labor said the rule had already been suspended because of federal injunctions.

“The decision provides much-needed clarity for American farmers navigating the H-2A program, while also aligning with President Trump’s ongoing commitment to strictly enforcing U.S. immigration laws,” the department said in a statement.

“As multiple federal court injunctions have created significant legal uncertainty, inconsistency, and operational challenges for farmers lawfully employing H-2A workers, this field assistance bulletin clarifies that the department will not be enforcing the 2024 final rule effective immediately.”

The H-2A visa program allows farmers to bring in an unlimited number of foreign seasonal farmhands if they can show there are not enough U.S. workers willing, qualified and available to do the job.

The program has grown over time, with 378,000 H-2A positions certified by the Labor Department in 2023, three times more than in 2014.

That figure is about 20% of the nation’s farmworkers, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Trump said last week he would take steps soon to address the effects of his immigration crackdown on the country’s farm and hotel industries, which rely heavily on migrant labor.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Jasper Ward in Washington; Editing by Chris Reese and Tom Hogue)