By Margaret Jodlowski
especially its impact on the U.S. workforce, was a hot-button issue during the 2024 presidential election. President Trump has made it clear that increased immigration enforcement will be a key feature of his second term, with early indications that such actions are already underway across the U.S. This could cause major disruption to the businesses that employ a relatively high share of immigrant workers, which includes many in the food and agriculture supply chain. For these operations, policy uncertainty about the nature and extent of immigration action may further hamper the functioning of their businesses, as these industries are already facing significant headwinds in maintaining access to a reliable, stable, and effective workforce. While it is currently unknown how widespread such actions will be, the mere possibility is something businesses that rely on immigrant labor must carefully consider and plan for.
The agricultural sector has a long history of struggling to attract and retain labor; recently, increasing labor costs have also posed a challenge. Agricultural economists’ research sheds light on the nature of this struggle and how changing policy and economic conditions can mitigate or deepen it.
The agricultural work force is heavily reliant on immigrant workers, regardless of their immigration status. Legal work authorization is, of course, a major consideration: for crop workers, roughly 45-50% lack legal work status. The percentage of livestock workers without this status is likely even higher. These concerns are not limited to agricultural production directly. For example, meatpacking and other sectors of food processing are among the most immigrant dependent sectors in the entire US economy.
Source : osu.edu