(UNITED STATES) — The Trump administration moved in late 2025 to scale up immigration enforcement toward more than one million removals a year, a push that has farmers warning that deportations are set to explode just as they are struggling to find enough workers to plant, pick and process food.
Administration statements and goals
Kristi Noem, the Secretary of Homeland Security, hailed what she called a “historic year” of enforcement on December 19, 2025, as the administration mapped out a bigger 2026 effort that senior officials said would expand arrests and workplace actions, including at farms.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, we are making America safe again. In record-time we have secured the border. and arrested thousands upon thousands of criminal illegal aliens. Though 2025 was historic, we won’t rest until the job is done,” Noem said in a DHS year-end statement posted on https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/12/19/under-president-trump-and-secretary-noem-dhs-has-historic-year.
White House “Border Czar” Tom Homan, discussing the 2026 outlook in December 2025, said immigration arrests will “explode greatly next year” and said enforcement would “absolutely” target workplaces, including farms.
Scale and funding for enforcement
DHS reported that more than 2.5 million illegal aliens left the U.S. in 2025, including approximately 1.9 million self-deportations and 622,000 official deportations.
The administration has earmarked $170 billion for ICE and Border Patrol through September 2029 to support the goal of one million deportations per year, a scale-up that industry groups and growers say will shrink the pool of experienced farmworkers.
USCIS — an agency best known for benefits processing — also pointed to a more active role in enforcement in an end-of-year review posted on https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/news-releases/making-america-safe-again-uscis-end-of-year-review.
- USCIS reported referring over 14,400 aliens to ICE for safety and fraud concerns.
- USCIS said it empowered its officers to issue Notices to Appear (NTAs), the charging documents that can initiate removal proceedings.
Impact on the farm labor market
Farm employers say that intensified enforcement collides with conditions already tightening the farm labor market, especially in labor-intensive sectors such as dairy, berries and orchards.
Federal data shows a 7% decrease in the agricultural workforce between March and July 2025, a loss of approximately 155,000 workers nationwide.
A Department of Labor document filed in the Federal Register in October 2025 warned that the “near total cessation of the inflow of illegal aliens” threatens the “stability of domestic food production and prices for U.S. consumers.”
Examples and on-the-ground effects
- One New Jersey blueberry grower reported losing 2.5 million pounds of fruit, a $5 million loss, because only one-third of the required workforce was available.
- Growers describe labor needs with short harvest windows, where delays can turn marketable produce into waste.
- Even with guest-worker programs, farmers report recurring gaps between workers they can recruit and workers they need, especially for crews experienced in harvest pace, heat and repetitive tasks.
Policy changes affecting labor supply and costs
To address labor costs within the legal guest-worker system, the administration implemented a new H-2A wage rule on October 2, 2025, which it said effectively lowers the pay for seasonal H-2A guest workers.
- The administration argued the rule was necessary “to avoid imminent widespread disruption across the U.S. agricultural sector.”
- Farmers say the H-2A program still leaves gaps, particularly for work requiring seasoned crews.
Meanwhile, DHS terminated Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for several countries throughout late 2025, including Ethiopia, Burma, and Afghanistan, removing legal work authorization for hundreds of thousands of individuals.
- Growers and labor advocates warned these terminations can ripple through regional farm economies where TPS holders work in fields, packinghouses, trucking and food processing.
Administration proposals and industry reactions
President Trump, in a July 4, 2025 proposal, floated a plan to let farmers “vouch” for long-term, law-abiding migrant workers to exempt them from deportation.
- Farmers have remained skeptical about the proposal’s implementation and legal standing.
- Growers pressed for clarity on what protection, if any, this plan would provide during stepped-up enforcement.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in September 2025 that the goal is a “100% American workforce”, suggesting 34 million “able-bodied adults on Medicaid” with new work requirements could fill farm jobs.
- The Labor Department cautioned (October 2025) that domestic workers often lack the necessary skills or willingness for many farm jobs, posing a risk to production and consumer prices if inflows stop.
Reactions from farming communities
USCIS’s reporting of over 14,400 referrals to ICE and expanded NTA authority added to a sense in farming communities that enforcement could reach more points of daily life than in previous years.
Producers tracking the federal workforce figures — the 7% drop between March and July 2025 — worry that intensified workplace actions will further disrupt operations that depend on stable, returning crews.
“Though 2025 was historic, we won’t rest until the job is done,” Noem said.
Key figures and data at a glance
| Item | Figure |
|---|---|
| Reported departures in 2025 | > 2,500,000 |
| Self-deportations (approx.) | 1,900,000 |
| Official deportations (approx.) | 622,000 |
| USCIS referrals to ICE | > 14,400 |
| Agricultural workforce decline (Mar–Jul 2025) | 7% (~155,000 workers) |
| ICE & Border Patrol funding (through Sep 2029) | $170 billion |
| H-2A wage rule effective date | October 2, 2025 |
| TPS terminations noted | Ethiopia, Burma, Afghanistan |
Bottom line / key takeaways
- The administration set a goal of one million deportations per year, backed by $170 billion in funding through September 2029.
- Enforcement actions and policy changes in 2025 — including expanded workplace targeting, USCIS referrals, NTAs, H-2A rule changes, and TPS terminations — have heightened concerns in agriculture.
- Farmers warn that the combination of a 7% workforce decline in months and further deportations could strain food production where experience, timing and crew continuity are critical.
The U.S. government is accelerating immigration enforcement with a goal of one million deportations per year, backed by a $170 billion budget. This surge includes increased workplace actions and the termination of TPS for several nations. Consequently, the agricultural industry is suffering from a 7% labor decrease, leading to millions of dollars in wasted produce and warnings of rising food prices.
