The USDA's Economic Research Service reported in January that "the share of hired crop farmworkers who were not legally authorized to work in the United States grew from roughly 14 percent in 1989-91 to almost 55 percent in 1999-2001; in recent years it has declined to about 40 percent," the ERS reported. "In 2020-22, 32 percent of crop farmworkers were U.S. born, 7 percent were immigrants who had obtained U.S. citizenship, 19 percent were other authorized immigrants (primarily permanent residents or green-card holders), and the remaining 42 percent held no work authorization."
"The share of workers who are U.S. born is highest in the Midwest, while the share who are unauthorized is highest in California," the ERS reported.
"Legal immigration status is difficult to measure: not many surveys ask the question, and unauthorized respondents may be reluctant to answer truthfully if asked," the ERS reported. "The U.S. Department of Labor's National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS) provides data on farmworkers' legal immigration status. NAWS data, believed to be of high quality, is gathered by trained and trusted enumerators who conduct face-to-face interviews with workers at their job sites and with their employers' permission."
At the House Agriculture Committee hearing yesterday, Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins was asked about ICE targeting agriculture business and the ag labor industry more broadly. She told the committee that while President Donald Trump's first commitment is to ensure that all laws are followed, he also understands the challenges of finding labor and that his cabinet is "doing everything we can to make sure that these farmers and ranchers have the labor that they need."
