Labor Department warns of increasing food prices amid drop in illegal immigrant workforce

The Labor Department has issued a warning of an increase in food prices amid a drop in the illegal immigrant workforce.

According to an interim rule released on the Federal Register by the Labor Department on Oct. 2, the decline in immigrant labor will “exacerbate [an] already pressing mismatch in the agricultural labor market and deprive growers of a relatively cheaper labor supply on which they have become economically reliant,” The Hill news outlet reported Tuesday.

“Despite rising wages, there is no indication that unemployed or marginally attached U.S. workers are entering the agricultural labor force in meaningful numbers,” the department continued. “Without swift action, agricultural employers will be unable to maintain operations, and the nation’s food supply will be at risk.”

"Unless the Department acts immediately to provide a source of stable and lawful labor, this threat will grow as the tools Congress provided in H.R. 1, One Big Beautiful Bill Act, to enhance enforcement of the nation's immigration laws are deployed," the rule also reads.

The department proposed as a solution that pay be lowered for seasonal agricultural workers who hold H-2A visas. With this visa, agricultural workers are sponsored for residency by growers for a year, but do not have bargaining rights and must accept a minimum wage set by federal guidance that doesn’t create an “adverse effect” on U.S. workers.

Nearly 20% of agricultural workers are on these visas, which is almost 10 times the number from two decades ago.

A senior White House official told the news outlet regarding the Labor Department rule that the Trump administration is committed to reforming temporary worker visa programs.

“Our immigration system has been broken for decades, and we finally have a President who is enforcing the law and prioritizing fixing programs farmers and ranchers rely on to produce the safest and most productive food supply in the world,” the official added.

Grocery prices have increased over the last few months as President Trump's tariffs were implemented.

“The near total cessation of the inflow of illegal aliens combined with the lack of an available legal workforce, results in significant disruptions to production costs and threatening the stability of domestic food production and prices for U.S. consumers,” the Labor Department wrote this month.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins suggested last month that farm workers could receive tariff-generated revenue to mitigate the increased costs.

“We are working with our colleagues in Congress and closely monitoring markets daily to evaluate the amount of additional assistance that might be needed this fall,” Rollins said.

Almost every month since January, food prices have increased between 0.2 and 0.4 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.