Agricultural industry says US needs cheap foreign labor to feed America

Those in the agriculture industry are arguing that cheap labor from illegal immigrants is needed in order to feed Americans. This comes as Trump has promised to conduct mass deportations of illegal immigrants as he takes office.

Multiple farming and agriculture industry representatives told Stateline that they need the labor from immigrants, either through amnesty or through extension of H-2A visas. H-2A visas are usually for seasonal work and will allow for immigrants to work on the farms and in other industries. The visas last "often for about six to 10 months," the report states; however, they "can be extended for up to three years before a worker must return to their home country."

The National Milk Producers Federation said that it “strongly supports efforts to pass agriculture labor reform that provides permanent legal status to current workers and their families and gives dairy farmers access to a workable guestworker program.”

Antonio De Loera-Brust, who is the United Farm Workers union communications director, told the outlet that illegal immigrant workers should be given citizenship to work, “They deserve a lot better than just not getting deported. They deserve better wages, they deserve labor rights, they deserve citizenship.”

Bruce Lampman, who owns a dairy farm in Idaho, argued against the proposed deportation policies, and told the outlet, “We have five to six employees that do the work that nobody else will do. We wouldn’t survive without them."

“My business and every agriculture business in the U.S. will be crippled if they want to get rid of everybody who does the work,” Lampman added in his comments.

Incoming Vice President JD Vance, however, has argued in favor of the deportation policies to get more Americans reengaged in the labor force. In an interview with the New York Times in October, he was asked about the construction industry, which similarly uses immigrant labor.

Vance stated at the time, “I think that what you would do is you would take, let’s say for example, the seven million prime-age men who have dropped out of the labor force, and you have a smaller number of women, but still millions of women, prime age, who have dropped out of the labor force. You absolutely could re-engage folks into the American labor market.”

The topic of immigrant labor has been a topic of discussion nationally following Trump-ally Elon Musk vouching for the US to bring immigrant workers with top talent to work in the tech industry in Silicon Valley and has revealed a disagreement between some in the GOP about the level of foreign workers being recruited to American companies.

Democrats like Chuck Schumer have argued that the agricultural industry relies on low-paid, foreign workers to complete jobs that he said Americans won't do, such as farm work, fast food, and other low status positions.