US EditionUS Agriculture Secretary: No Amnesty for Deported Farmworkers; Medicaid Recipients Can Replace Them
UNITED STATES, JUL 8 – Agriculture Secretary Rollins announced a plan to deport undocumented farmworkers and recruit 34 million able-bodied Medicaid recipients to address labor shortages and promote a 100% American workforce.
- On July 8, 2025, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced a plan to enlist 34 million able-bodied Medicaid recipients for farm work.
- Earlier this year, Rollins co-authored a May 15, 2025, opinion piece advocating work requirements for welfare programs and supporting a $1200000 million cut to Medicaid under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
- Stakeholders warn that critics say the plan could have devastating consequences for food security, while Rollins said, `Ultimately, the answer on this is automation, also some reform within the current governing structure. And then also, there are 34 million able-bodied adults in our Medicaid program. There are plenty of workers in America`.
- Critics warn that cuts and ongoing deportations may disrupt food production and raise grocery prices.
- As Congress considers visa program changes, Rollins plans to work with Congress to modernize the H-2A visa program, and its effects will be closely watched.
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117 Articles
D.C. Memo: Trump says undocumented farm workers are “special”
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump tried to give the agriculture industry a boost this week as Minnesota farmers gathered in Morgan for Farmfest. Trump, who had briefly stopped deportations of undocumented farm workers before an uproar from some of his base led him to restart them, said this week that his administration would continue to deport criminals, but that he wants to “work with” farmers to find a solution for their workers. “We can’t l…
The Conversation
Trump’s push for more deportations could boost demand for foreign farmworkers with ‘guest worker’ visas
Mexican farmworkers with H-2A visas weed a North Carolina tobacco field in 2016. Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty ImagesThe U.S. has an important choice to make regarding agriculture. It can import more people to pick crops and do other kinds of agricultural labor, it can raise wages enough to lure more U.S. citizens and immigrants with legal status to take these jobs, or it can import more food. All three options contradict key Trump admini…
Ag Policy Blog: Rollins Says No Amnesty for Farmworkers, But Medicaid Recipients Could Fill the Void
At a news conference on Tuesday, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said there will be no legal amnesty for undocumented farmworkers. Instead, Rollins suggested unemployed people on Medicaid could fill those jobs that can't be done by automation.
The Quad-City Times
Dispatch ArgusIowa leaders weigh in on intersection of deportation policy and need for farm labor
Iowa’s elected leaders present and past are discussing a back-and-forth within President Donald Trump’s administration about how to manage farm labor amid a hardline deportation policy.
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