Labor Department Suspends Biden-Era Farmworker Rule

The Department of Labor announced on Friday that it is suspending a Biden-era rule that critics say imposed large burdens on farmers with thousands of pages of new regulations.

In May 2024, the Labor Department imposed new regulations on farmers who hire workers through the H-2A program. The regulations took up nearly 3,000 pages, up from a previous 600, and put a massive burden on farmers.

At the time of the bill's passage, the American Farm Bureau Federation pushed back against the new rules, saying they placed untold compliance on farmers with little regard for farmers or their employees.

"Farmers appreciate the men and women who work on their farms, and we don't take lightly the responsibility to ensure their safety and protection," Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall said at the time. "We wholeheartedly support clamping down on labor abuses, but this rule instead assumes all farmers are guilty until proven innocent and that's not right."

"In truth, the workers most supported by DOL are the lawyers needed to interpret the tsunami of new rules that keep moving the goal posts for farmers," Duvall added.

The Labor Department said in its statement that removing the 2024 farmworker rule will "provide 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 announcement came amid the Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigration, a move that is likely to affect the farming community.

Border czar Tom Homan said that although the focus of his efforts will be on criminals, anyone who has entered the country illegally has broken the law.

"The message is clear now that we're going to continue doing worksite enforcement operations, even on farms and hotels, but based on a prioritized basis," Homan said this week. "Criminals come first."