If the President-elect moves forward with his promise to deport millions of immigrants, the impact on U.S. agriculture could be devastating, particularly in heartland states and Eastern Washington, where farming is a cornerstone of the economy and labor shortages are already a significant challenge.
Immigrants constitute about two-thirds of the country’s crop farmworkers, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, with nearly 40% of them lacking legal authorization to work in the U.S. This reliance extends to other agricultural sectors, including meatpacking, dairy, poultry, and livestock farming, all of which depend heavily on immigrant labor. Agriculture business in the U.S. will be crippled if they want to get rid of everybody who does the work.”
The strain on labor resources is already apparent. Anita Alves Pena, a Colorado State University economics professor specializing in immigration, points out that many agricultural employers struggle to find sufficient labor under the current system. “Farmers across the country are often talking about labor shortages — and that’s even with a high percentage of unauthorized workers,” Pena explains. She cautions that removing this workforce without implementing alternative solutions could significantly harm state economies and cripple farms nationwide.