Trump's Deportation Policy Stands to Drive Up Farm Wages
- U.S. agriculture labor costs already outpace rest of workforce
- America’s choice: Import its labor or import its food
Will Trump's Deportation Policy Drive Up Farm Wages?
Across America’s orchards and crop fields, a shrinking supply of migrants has already driven pay up faster than in the broader workforce. President Donald Trump’s immigration policy may turbocharge that trend.
Wages for U.S. fieldworkers rose 36 percent over the past decade through the conclusion of last year’s harvest in October, compared with 27 percent among non-farm employees, government data show. Reducing the supply of labor wouldn’t just cause pay gains to accelerate: The Trump administration’s expanded deportations for undocumented immigrants could put some growers out of business if the actions aren’t accompanied by increases in workers available through legal guest-worker programs.