The Trump Administration Wants to Make It Easier Than Ever to Exploit Farmworkers
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The Trump Administration Wants to Make It Easier Than Ever to Exploit Farmworkers
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February 12, 2026
The Trump Administration Wants to Make It Easier Than Ever to Exploit Farmworkers
What is being described as “reform” in Washington will only make the abuse and wage theft that plague the program even worse.
Teresa Cotsirilos
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Workers harvest asparagus at Yakama Nation Farms in Harrah, Washington, on Tuesday, April 22, 2025.
(Emree Weaver / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
This story was produced in partnership with the Food & Environment Reporting Network, a nonprofit news organization.
Shortly after Gustavo started working as a sheepherder in Cokeville, Wyoming, he says his boss took his passport. Over the years that followed, he and his brother, Iván, herded up to 2,000 sheep through the state’s remote mountains. All the while, they told me in 2023, the rancher stole their wages, deprived them of food and water, and shot more than one of their dogs in front of them. “We were afraid he’d kill us,” said Iván. After the brothers managed to escape they were granted special visas reserved for victims of human trafficking.
Originally from Peru, Gustavo and Iván (whose names have been changed due to fear of retaliation) came to the United States through the H-2A program, which provides temporary work visas for seasonal, foreign-born agricultural workers. In Washington, H-2A is having a moment. The visa is one of the only immigration programs that Trump officials have embraced—Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins has said expanding it is “of the utmost priority”—with lawmakers from both parties on board. And last year the administration made a number of significant changes to the program, none of which would have protected Gustavo and Iván. Some of them will make the kind of abuse the brothers faced more likely.
It’s not hard to understand H-2A’s appeal. For Trump officials, it’s a solution to a long-standing problem they made a lot worse: Farmers have been coping with a labor shortage for decades, and an estimated 40 percent of the farmworkers they’ve hired are undocumented. By the administration’s own admission, its increased immigration raids in farm country would likely worsen this labor shortage to the point of increasing food prices. For policymakers across the political spectrum, expanding the H-2A visa can look like a panacea for much of what ails our agricultural labor force—a way to supply farmers with a sufficient number of workers who they can afford to hire, and who reside in the country legally. And much easier to accomplish than comprehensive immigration reform. For farmers, H-2A is the only viable path to a legal workforce. As a …
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The Trump Administration Wants to Make It Easier Than Ever to Exploit Farmworkers
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Current Issue
February 12, 2026
The Trump Administration Wants to Make It Easier Than Ever to Exploit Farmworkers
What is being described as “reform” in Washington will only make the abuse and wage theft that plague the program even worse.
Teresa Cotsirilos
Share
Copy Link
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Ad Policy
Workers harvest asparagus at Yakama Nation Farms in Harrah, Washington, on Tuesday, April 22, 2025.
(Emree Weaver / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
This story was produced in partnership with the Food & Environment Reporting Network, a nonprofit news organization.
Shortly after Gustavo started working as a sheepherder in Cokeville, Wyoming, he says his boss took his passport. Over the years that followed, he and his brother, Iván, herded up to 2,000 sheep through the state’s remote mountains. All the while, they told me in 2023, the rancher stole their wages, deprived them of food and water, and shot more than one of their dogs in front of them. “We were afraid he’d kill us,” said Iván. After the brothers managed to escape they were granted special visas reserved for victims of human trafficking.
Originally from Peru, Gustavo and Iván (whose names have been changed due to fear of retaliation) came to the United States through the H-2A program, which provides temporary work visas for seasonal, foreign-born agricultural workers. In Washington, H-2A is having a moment. The visa is one of the only immigration programs that Trump officials have embraced—Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins has said expanding it is “of the utmost priority”—with lawmakers from both parties on board. And last year the administration made a number of significant changes to the program, none of which would have protected Gustavo and Iván. Some of them will make the kind of abuse the brothers faced more likely.
It’s not hard to understand H-2A’s appeal. For Trump officials, it’s a solution to a long-standing problem they made a lot worse: Farmers have been coping with a labor shortage for decades, and an estimated 40 percent of the farmworkers they’ve hired are undocumented. By the administration’s own admission, its increased immigration raids in farm country would likely worsen this labor shortage to the point of increasing food prices. For policymakers across the political spectrum, expanding the H-2A visa can look like a panacea for much of what ails our agricultural labor force—a way to supply farmers with a sufficient number of workers who they can afford to hire, and who reside in the country legally. And much easier to accomplish than comprehensive immigration reform. For farmers, H-2A is the only viable path to a legal workforce. As a …
The Trump Administration Wants to Make It Easier Than Ever to Exploit Farmworkers
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The Trump Administration Wants to Make It Easier Than Ever to Exploit Farmworkers
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Current Issue
February 12, 2026
The Trump Administration Wants to Make It Easier Than Ever to Exploit Farmworkers
What is being described as “reform” in Washington will only make the abuse and wage theft that plague the program even worse.
Teresa Cotsirilos
Share
Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Email
Ad Policy
Workers harvest asparagus at Yakama Nation Farms in Harrah, Washington, on Tuesday, April 22, 2025.
(Emree Weaver / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
This story was produced in partnership with the Food & Environment Reporting Network, a nonprofit news organization.
Shortly after Gustavo started working as a sheepherder in Cokeville, Wyoming, he says his boss took his passport. Over the years that followed, he and his brother, Iván, herded up to 2,000 sheep through the state’s remote mountains. All the while, they told me in 2023, the rancher stole their wages, deprived them of food and water, and shot more than one of their dogs in front of them. “We were afraid he’d kill us,” said Iván. After the brothers managed to escape they were granted special visas reserved for victims of human trafficking.
Originally from Peru, Gustavo and Iván (whose names have been changed due to fear of retaliation) came to the United States through the H-2A program, which provides temporary work visas for seasonal, foreign-born agricultural workers. In Washington, H-2A is having a moment. The visa is one of the only immigration programs that Trump officials have embraced—Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins has said expanding it is “of the utmost priority”—with lawmakers from both parties on board. And last year the administration made a number of significant changes to the program, none of which would have protected Gustavo and Iván. Some of them will make the kind of abuse the brothers faced more likely.
It’s not hard to understand H-2A’s appeal. For Trump officials, it’s a solution to a long-standing problem they made a lot worse: Farmers have been coping with a labor shortage for decades, and an estimated 40 percent of the farmworkers they’ve hired are undocumented. By the administration’s own admission, its increased immigration raids in farm country would likely worsen this labor shortage to the point of increasing food prices. For policymakers across the political spectrum, expanding the H-2A visa can look like a panacea for much of what ails our agricultural labor force—a way to supply farmers with a sufficient number of workers who they can afford to hire, and who reside in the country legally. And much easier to accomplish than comprehensive immigration reform. For farmers, H-2A is the only viable path to a legal workforce. As a …
