WASHINGTON — More than 40 agricultural producers and industry organizations are urging President Donald Trump and congressional leaders to change immigration enforcement policies they say are disrupting food production, threatening agricultural businesses and potentially increasing grocery prices for American consumers.
According to an investigation by The Washington Post, the coalition warned that enforcement operations targeting immigrant workers, including those without criminal records, are undermining the nation’s agricultural workforce and threatening domestic food production.
The organizations include the Milk Producers Council, Kansas Livestock Association, Texas International Produce Association and Indiana Dairy Producers, along with members of the American Business Immigration Coalition.
The agricultural groups are calling for expanded access to legal work authorization for longtime agricultural employees, arguing that existing immigration programs do not adequately address the industry’s labor needs.
In a letter to Trump and congressional leaders, the organizations warned that immigration enforcement and restrictions on workforce programs could increase food costs and make the United States more dependent on imported agricultural products.
“Targeting immigrant workers who have not committed crimes and blocking workforce solutions for agriculture devastates agricultural producers, drives up food costs for all Americans and makes our nation more dependent on other countries,” the coalition stated.
The Washington Post reported that enforcement operations have disrupted agricultural activities in several states, including meatpacking operations in Kansas, farmworker communities in California’s Central Valley and poultry production in Pennsylvania.
In southwest Kansas, immigration enforcement operations in September prompted concerns among agricultural employers about worker attendance, livestock shipments and meatpacking capacity.
Matt Teagarden, CEO of the Kansas Livestock Association and chair of the American Business Immigration Coalition’s Agricultural Council, said the enforcement operations affected employees regardless of their immigration status.
“Legal, fully documented workers were not leaving home because of the circumstances there,” Teagarden said in a coalition statement.
“When those plants are disrupted, cattle back up and the cattle market drops. At the same time, there’s less beef going out to retailers and restaurants — and so beef prices go higher,” he added.
According to the coalition, some agricultural employees avoided traveling to work because they feared encountering immigration authorities. Employers reported workers arranging transportation with supervisors or staying at agricultural facilities to avoid traveling between their homes and workplaces.
The disruptions extended beyond individual workers, affecting businesses that depend on coordinated livestock transportation, processing schedules and agricultural production.
Federal authorities disputed descriptions of the Kansas operations as indiscriminate enforcement.
In a Sept. 29 statement, updated Oct. 3, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Kansas reported that Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 104 people during a three-day operation conducted Sept. 22-24.
Federal officials described the operation, called Operation Safe Community — Kansas, as a targeted effort to apprehend individuals with criminal histories, including people previously convicted of violent offenses.
U.S. Attorney Ryan Kriegshauser rejected claims that the operation consisted of arbitrary immigration sweeps.
“The operations that took place in Southwest Kansas were not arbitrary but part of a larger effort to apprehend specific criminal aliens,” Kriegshauser said.
The Justice Department also warned that inaccurate information about enforcement operations could unnecessarily disrupt Kansas agricultural businesses.
The competing accounts illustrate the dispute between federal authorities, who characterize the operations as targeted enforcement, and agricultural employers, who say the presence of immigration agents can discourage even legally authorized workers from reporting to their jobs.
The industry’s concerns arise against a longstanding dependence on immigrant labor.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, approximately 68% of hired crop farmworkers surveyed between 2020 and 2022 were foreign-born.
The same survey found that 42% of hired crop farmworkers lacked legal authorization to work in the United States, while 19% were authorized immigrants and 7% were naturalized U.S. citizens.
The remaining 32% were born in the United States.
Those figures apply specifically to hired crop farmworkers surveyed through the National Agricultural Workers Survey, which excludes livestock workers and participants in the federal H-2A agricultural visa program.
The USDA also reports that 83% of hired crop farmworkers are settled workers rather than migrants, meaning they generally work within 75 miles of their homes.
The data underscores the importance of established immigrant communities to agricultural production, although the survey does not measure the full workforce employed in dairy operations, meatpacking facilities or food processing.
Agricultural employers argue that existing federal visa programs provide insufficient flexibility to address these workforce needs.
The H-2A program allows agricultural employers to recruit foreign workers for temporary or seasonal employment when sufficient domestic labor is unavailable.
However, the program generally excludes permanent, year-round positions, creating particular difficulties for dairy farms and livestock operations that require continuous staffing.
The agricultural coalition is supporting legislation intended to expand access to legal agricultural employment.
The Securing Agriculture’s Workforce Act of 2026, introduced June 30 by Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., would modify the H-2A program and establish an electronic system for processing agricultural employment applications.
The legislation, H.R. 9535, was referred to the House Judiciary Committee after its introduction.
The proposal would also establish provisions allowing certain agricultural workers without lawful immigration status to obtain H-2A status if they meet specified employment and eligibility requirements.
Those provisions remain proposed changes to federal law and do not currently provide employment authorization or protection from immigration enforcement.
Agricultural organizations argue that expanding lawful employment opportunities for established workers could help stabilize the workforce while allowing businesses to maintain production.
The American Business Immigration Coalition also released an analysis arguing that immigration enforcement is contributing to higher food prices by reducing workforce availability in agriculture, food processing and restaurants.
The coalition reported that food prices increased approximately 3% over the 12 months ending in July 2026, including increases of 2.7% for groceries and 3.4% for restaurant meals.
The analysis connected workforce disruptions and immigration enforcement to higher operating costs, although the reported price increases do not independently establish how much of the inflation was caused by immigration policies rather than other economic factors.
Rebecca Shi, CEO of the American Business Immigration Coalition, called for changes to federal immigration policy that would allow established immigrant workers to remain employed.
“We need sensible immigration solutions that provide a legal path forward for people who are working, paying taxes and contributing to our communities,” Shi said in the coalition’s October statement.
The coalition also cited labor shortages and employment disruptions in industries beyond agriculture, including restaurants and other businesses that depend on immigrant workers.
Agricultural employers say immigration enforcement is adding to existing pressures from tariffs, fertilizer costs and supply chain disruptions.
For producers, reduced workforce availability can delay harvesting, livestock transportation and processing operations, potentially increasing costs throughout the food supply chain.
For agricultural workers and their families, enforcement activity can create uncertainty about employment, detention and the ability to remain in their communities.
The dispute presents federal policymakers with competing priorities involving immigration enforcement, agricultural labor needs and consumer food costs.
As Congress considers changes to agricultural employment programs, producers are warning that continued workforce instability could affect the availability and cost of domestically produced food.
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