Before Donald Trump’s January 20, 2025 inauguration, immigrant farmworkers and their families sought help preparing for possible immigration enforcement. Advocates reported a sharp rise in demand for workshops on encounters with officials and practical family arrangements, including temporary guardianship and access to a worker’s pay. Reporting in June 2025 later documented arrests and missed work in parts of California, followed by a reported pause in arrests at farms, restaurants and hotels. A July 2026 UFW Foundation survey found that many respondents said raids and deportations had affected their employment. Those developments describe a dated sequence, not a settled nationwide enforcement rule.
How farmworker families prepared before the inauguration
In a January 17, 2025 Reuters report, representatives of four rural and legal advocacy organizations described as much as a tenfold increase in interest in workshops and resources for immigration encounters and family security. Cornell Farmworker Program director Mary Jo Dudley also told Reuters that demand for immigration workshops had increased tenfold. The figures describe organizations’ reported interest at that time, not a count of all farmworkers or a national survey.
The reported preparations were practical and family-centered. Workshop examples included role-playing an encounter with immigration officials and planning who could care for children if a parent were detained or deported. Families also sought temporary-guardianship arrangements, permission for another person to pick children up from school or collect a worker’s pay, and permissions for children to travel internationally if a parent were deported. Reuters reported that some workers were seeking help with immigration paperwork and passports for U.S.-born children.
These were examples of steps families discussed with advocates, not universal legal instructions. The right documents and procedures depend on a family’s circumstances and the relevant state and federal rules. A local farmworker legal-aid organization can explain which arrangements are valid where a family lives and whether it can provide legal representation.
“The administration is not yet sworn in, but people are already afraid,” Sarait Martinez, executive director of the Centro Binacional para el Desarrollo Indígena Oaxaqueño, told Reuters. Alfredo, a Washington State farmworker identified only by his first name because of concerns about targeting, said workers took pride in farm work but found it increasingly hard to look forward to going to work.
What changed after January 2025
June 2025: California reports of arrests and absences
On June 13, 2025, the Associated Press reported immigration raids and worker absences in California. Maureen McGuire, chief executive of Ventura County’s farm bureau, estimated that 25%–45% of farmworkers in Ventura County had stopped showing up since raids began that month. That is a local estimate attributed to McGuire, not a measured statewide absentee rate.
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The same AP report included a different assessment: the California Farm Bureau said it had not received reports of widespread workforce disruption. The statements should not be collapsed into a single statewide conclusion. The reporting described concerns about harvesting and supply chains, but the available evidence does not quantify farm production lost specifically because of deportations or worker absences, or a resulting change in grocery prices.
June 14: AP reported a pause directive
The next day, AP reported that immigration officers had been directed to pause arrests at farms, restaurants and hotels after Trump raised concerns about effects on those industries. DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said the administration would follow the president’s direction while continuing to seek the removal of what she called the “worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens.” The report establishes a dated directive; it does not show how consistently it was implemented or whether it remained in effect later. It should not be read as proof of a current nationwide rule.
July 2026: survey respondents describe employment effects and fear
In a July 31, 2026 release, the UFW Foundation reported results from a survey of 2,250 farmworkers about experiences since the crackdown began in early 2025. The foundation said most respondents were undocumented and most lived in California; others came from Washington, Michigan, Georgia and 12 additional states. It reported that 92% said raids and deportations had affected their employment and 88% feared detention and deportation.
Those percentages are the respondents’ reported experiences in a survey conducted by the UFW Foundation. They are not a representative federal estimate of all U.S. farmworkers. The foundation’s CEO, Erica Lomeli Corcoran, described the survey as an effort to document the concerns of undocumented farmworkers amid barriers to comprehensive data.
What the available numbers say about farm labor
Farmworker statistics use different populations and measures. Estimates for crop workers should not be presented as figures for everyone working in agriculture, which also includes livestock production. The figures below are not interchangeable or additive.
| Source and period | Population and measure | Reported figure |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Labor’s National Agricultural Workers Survey, 2021–22, summarized by the Congressional Research Service on August 11, 2025 | Crop farmworkers; share lacking work authorization, with a 95% confidence interval | 37%–47% |
| Congressional Research Service, August 11, 2025 | Workers on crop-producing farms; derived estimate using the 37% lower-bound share and the approximate Bureau of Labor Statistics crop-worker count | About 327,000 unauthorized workers; an estimate, not a direct enumeration |
| USDA Economic Research Service, crop farmworkers in 2020–22 | Share by reported authorization and citizenship category | 32% U.S.-born; 7% naturalized citizens; 19% other authorized immigrants; 42% with no work authorization |
| Congressional Research Service, 2024 | Domestic farmworkers hired by farmers and labor contractors across crop and livestock production | Approximately 1.2 million |
| Department of Labor administrative data, fiscal year 2024, as summarized by the Congressional Research Service | H-2A temporary agricultural labor certifications approved | Approximately 363,000 farmworkers |
| Congressional Research Service | Federal legal-status data for livestock workers | Not stated; CRS said it could not identify federal legal-status data for this group |
The crop-worker figures differ in period, method and measure. For example, the CRS estimate of about 327,000 is derived from the lower end of the NAWS unauthorized-status range and an approximate BLS count; it is not a head count. The ERS percentages are a separate analysis of crop farmworkers in 2020–22. Neither should be treated as a percentage of the full agricultural workforce.
Nor should the approximately 1.2 million domestic farmworkers hired in 2024 and the approximately 363,000 approved H-2A certifications in fiscal 2024 be added to the unauthorized crop-worker estimate to create a workforce total. They refer to distinct administrative and workforce measures, not mutually exclusive categories in a single census.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What officials said about farm labor and H-2A
At her January 2025 confirmation hearing, agriculture secretary nominee Brooke Rollins described modernizing the H-2A temporary agricultural worker program as a priority. When Senator Dick Durbin asked whether farmworkers should expect raids, Rollins said she did not know the details of plans concerning farmworkers and intended to make the president aware of agriculture’s potential impact. Those comments record her position at the hearing, not a binding policy or a prediction of later enforcement.
On June 20, 2025, the Department of Labor announced that it would not enforce the 2024 H-2A final rule, citing injunctions and litigation. DOL said its guidance left prior regulations enforceable and did not change legal requirements. That announcement is a dated account of the agency’s position then; it does not establish the rule’s status as of a later date.
Where families can seek help
Families looking for encounter education or help making plans can contact a reputable local farmworker legal-aid organization or rights-education provider. Before relying on a service, confirm that it operates locally, offers help in a language the family understands, serves people in the family’s situation and can provide the kind of assistance needed. General workshops and information can help with planning, but they do not resolve an individual immigration case.
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